Rome in America

“An important book. . . . Highly recommended . . . for graduate students and scholars.” — The Catholic Historical Review

“A masterful accomplishment, both in its scholarship and its reader-friendly prose style.” — Theological Studies

“A well-rendered, and expansive, history of Catholicism in America.” — Chicago Tribune

“Rome in America is a major contribution to church history, an even-handed account of early 20th Century papal diplomacy and why it so badly failed. Peter D'Agostino has written an erudite book, marshaling a range of archival sources. . . . This is not revisionist history . . . so much as getting history down in the first place.” — Chicago Tribune

“Provides an elaborately rich context for understanding modern Catholicism even as it undermines the canonical interpretation of American Catholic history. . . . Groundbreaking, provocative, wide-ranging, and nicely written. . . . Challenges future historians to rethink the history of American Catholicism in an appropriately international context.” — American Historical Review

“Elegantly written and well-researched. . . . D'Agostino’s book challenges notions of exceptionalism that have informed histories of the American Catholic Church and raises new questions about the relationship between religion and ethnicity in modern America.” — Journal of American Ethnic History

“A major contribution to the discipline of religious studies in the United States. . . . Highly recommended.” — CHOICE

“In this carefully researched book, Peter D'Agostino examines the Roman Question and the reaction of American Catholics to it. . . . D'Agostino’s book challenges the standard account by looking in detail at what American bishops, Catholic publishers, and leaders of Catholic organizations actually said about the Roman Question.” — Journal of Religion

“Impressive scope. . . . [D'Agostino] successfully transcends the tricky loyalty conflicts Catholics face between American identity and Roman identity. . . . D'Agostino’s attention to the entire swath of [Catholic identity in America] — its intellectual foundations, its political and social legacies, its ethnic and ecumenical dimensions — make Rome in America a provocative, perhaps unavoidable, contribution to American Catholic history.” — National Catholic Reporter

“A book of landmark significance. . . . D'Agostino’s book should be required reading for American Catholics interested in the international politics of religion and the possibilities — and consequences — of Vatican involvement in the life of nations. For scholars, the history of American Catholicism will never be the same. . . . The author overturns the vision of two generations of historians and theologians. . . . [He is an] intellectually courageous historian.” — Commonweal