A groundbreaking study of Tocqueville's views on the role of religion in democratic societies: the separation of church and state and the spiritual checks and balances religion provides to democracy. Intellectually grounded in nineteenth-century French politics, Tocqueville's insights continue to offer new perspectives on this relevant issue.
Kahan demonstrates expert intellectual history as well as interrogates the use of good intellectual history... Readers will struggle to find fault. This is intellectual history as it should be written.