Murphy's work is both timely and well executed. It deserves to be read (and even reread) by scholars interested in the transatlantic economy of ideas...a close examination of Penn's life affords Murphy the chance to do what he does best - meditate on the meaning and place of liberty of conscience in an Atlantic world desperately seeking to come to terms with burgeoning religious diversity.
Andrew R. Murphy is Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University. His previous books include Prodigal Nation: Moral Decline and Divine Punishment from New England to 9/11 and Conscience and Community: Revisiting Toleration and Religious Dissent in Early Modern England and America.