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This is a brief highly readable history of the Catholic experience in Brit- ish America, which shaped the development of the colonies and the na- scent republic in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Historian Robert Emmett Curran begins his account with the English reforma- tion, which helps us to understand the Catholic exodus from England, Ireland, and Scotland that took place over the nearly two centuries that constitute the colonial period. The deeply rooted English understand- ing of Catholics as enemies of the political and religious values at the heart of British tradition, ironically acted as a catalyst for the emer- gence of a Catholic republican movement that was a critical factor in the decision of a strong majority of American Catholics in 1775 to sup- port the cause for independence. Papist Devils utilizes archival material, newspapers, and other con- temporary records in addition to a broad array of general histories, monographs, and dissertations dealing with the British Atlantic world. The unprecedentedly broad scope of this study, which encompasses not only the thirteen colonies that took up arms against Britain in 1775, but also those in the maritime provinces of Canada as well as the ones in the West Indies, constitutes a unique coverage of the British Cath- olic colonial experience, as does the extension of the colonial period through the American Revolution, which was its logical dénouement.
ROBERT EMMETT CURRAN is Professor Emeritus of History at Georgetown University
"This nicely organized and well-written survey of the existing secondary-source literature on Catholics in British colonial America…"
~Maura Jane Farrelly, American Historical Review
"One of the great virtues of Curran's Atlantic perspective is how much it illuminates the key factors behind Catholocism's success in Maryland… In Papist Devils, Curran has masterfully synthesized the rich body of recent literature on colonial Catholicism to craft a fresh and stimulating survey. With this transatlantic history in hand, it is no longer possible to confine the Catholic presence in the British colonies to Maryland alone."
~Ronald Binzley, Journal of Jesuit Studies
"… a journey well worth taking. His style is lively and engaging."
~Daniel Lloyd - Saint Leo University, Catholic Books Review
"…this book's power resides in its enrichment of the complicated western Atlantic odysseys of early modern Catholics, especially those form England and Ireland. Curran proves that this is a story well worth telling."
~Laura M. Chmielewski - Purchase College, State University of New York, The Journal of American History
"Curran lucidly and adroitly unspools the tangled skein of shifting political, religious, and financial alliances… The breathtaking scope and ambition of Curran's work is impressive. Papist Devils is required reading for students of Catholicism, American religious history, or the British Atlantic. And its compactness and accessibility make it a useful addition to most American religious history syllabi as well as to college and university libraries."
~Jennifer E. Schaaf, American Catholic Studies
"'Papist Devils' provides a straightforward and concise… account of Anglo-American Catholicism… the complexities confronting Catholics in the history of the American Revolution are well analyzed."
~John Howard Smith - Texas A&M University, The Journal of Southern History
"In this lively and energetic book, Robert Curran charts Catholic migration to and settlement in British America from the late sixteenth century through the American Revolution… The book is a pleasure to read, and by bringing together politics, art, literature, and culture, he provides an ambitious portrait of the Rinascimento."
~Nicole Greenspan, Hampden-Sydney College, Sixteenth Century Journal
"This book is welcome… This is the best survey of the Catholic colonial experience, and it is provided by a sure and experienced hand."
~Thomas P. Slaughter, The Historian
"A significant contribution to early American Catholicism, Curran's work is a first-rate resource for students of colonial religious history."
~AJ Scopino Jr., Religious Studies Review
"This colossal transatlantic clash is the subject of Robert E. Curran's sweeping, multifaceted analysis of Catholicism's fledging rise to prominence during a formative era… This book will be of particular interest to students of colonial religious and social history, but anyone seeking to better understand the intricacies of human behavioral history will also find great value in Curran's masterful narrative."
~Stephen W. Eldridge, Texas Tech Univ, Maryland Historical Magazine
"This is a splendid comprehensive presentation of the defining experience of Roman Catholics in Great Britain's American colonies from the late sixteenth century to the conclusion of the American Revolution. The text is clearly organized and accessible, the writing crisp and engaging and the author an obvious authority on the period."
~Thomas W. Jodziewicz - University of Dallas, Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Quarterly
"Robert Emmett Curran's Papist Devils is a magisterial narrative history of Catholicism and anti-Catholicism (or anti-popery) in the early modern British Atlantic World. Curran, recently Professor Emeritus of History at Georgetown University, brings to bear a distinguished career in this field to provide what may become the definitive overview of the English-speaking Catholic world up to the close of the American Revolution. This book would be ideal for graduate and advanced undergraduate courses in Atlantic World, British, or early American religious history, courses on the Catholic history of America, and its straightforward prose style should find it a willing readership among non-scholars as well.... Curran has offered an immensely satisfying and comprehensive narrative history of Catholics and their responses to the serious challenges to their freedoms and indentity through the end of the American Revolution."
~Michael Carter, Univ Dayton, Journal of Southern Religion
"Curran's synthesis of previous research and archival records has culminated in a historical narrative that is at once readable and highly informative… For the theologian, Papist Devils provides a highly accessible survey of Catholics in British America from the beginning of colonization through the American Revolution. This is a great asset to any theologian who desires to contextualize their research in light of the complex interaction between politics, culture and religion. As such, Curran's latest work is an excellent addition to any research library that serves graduate students and university faculty in the areas of History, Theology, and American studies."
~Eric Lafferty, Saint Louis Univ, Theological Studies
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