Puritan's Empire

Puritan’s Empire by Charles Coloumbe (Tumblar House Publishing) is a bit intimidating. Not only does it clock around 500 pages, but it promises within those pages to tell a story of quite the scope: the entire history of the United States, from a Catholic perspective. I believe this book accomplishes this goal, and then some. It is truly a must-read for any Catholic who wishes to find firm footing in our confusing day, especially for those who are actively working for a better future.

Now, starting off, I must confess I’m actually a Canadian, and also that I am far less educated on history than I would like to be. There were parts of this book I didn’t understand very well that I would like to re-visit on a second read through, show more with Google opened up and ready to go. There were names mentioned which I promptly forgot, causing confusion when they were brought up again. There were sections I found less interesting than others that I had to plod through. I don’t consider these to be criticisms of the book itself, rather, they are criticisms of the reader. This book taught me how much I did not know about the political and cultural currents which today shape my life, and it strengthened my conviction to learn these things so that I may pass them on to my children. Though the (oft-evil) history of American education is a minor part of this book, it may be one of the best touchstones for those warily eyeing the sheer bulk of pages.

I was homeschooled, and had a very good education on history compared to many of my peers at the time - let alone those poor children and teens of today. Still, in reading this book, I felt my deficiencies! The educational rot runs deep, indeed, but I believe this book’s foremost thesis is especially apt in regard to education: there is no way forward for America without the Catholic Church, likewise (and the main focus of the book as a whole), there is no clear vision of history without her. Try as my parents may, they were missing an essential element of my education - just as American (and I would argue, Canadian) society is missing its very soul.

If you can accept that you may not understand everything that this book talks about (or better yet, you are well-read enough to avoid such worries!), you will benefit greatly by reading it. Do you understand every bit about the American national ideology (which is often one and the same as the Americanist heresy, unfortunately) that you are mired in? Of course not. You were moulded into it, fed bits and pieces at a time, by various books and media which impacted you deeply, especially in childhood. Education is more than names and places, events and dates. It’s intuitive, too. It’s the glasses through which you see the world, adding lens onto lens, the picture becoming more clear as you go.

I believe that this book is the definitive, formative, impactful work of history that American Catholics have needed for a very long time. As mentioned, the scope is massive, but it is not of course perfectly complete. There are details about Hiroshima that I found wanting, I still cannot quite grasp the politics of France during the Second World War, and I struggled to really grasp the progression of day-to-day life in the fledgling United States. This is the reality of a book which carries so much in so few pages, and it doesn’t matter. I found in this book a place to begin, a Catholic fortress to peer out from as I explore various events in greater detail.

It’s vaguely chronological, but the narrative flow of the book was hard to even pin down. It all happened naturally, decades becoming centuries, events at home lined up with contemporary global happenings. It just worked. Most of the book is very much focused on “non-Church related” history, but I found the final stretch also to be a great primer on the Americanist heresy as well as really putting together the centuries-long puzzle of the Modernist crisis. If you’re the sort who believes our problems really began at Vatican II, Puritan’s Empire will disabuse you of that notion!

The book ends with a very challenging segment on authentic Catholic social teaching and how it may be applied to the United States. Even as someone with political beliefs that are often anathema to the modern discourse, I felt uncomfortable when considering some of the points raised. I knew I was wrong, and yet, my formation in the heresies of the modern world is a powerful thing emotionally. Coloumbe recognizes that if there is a hope of this radical, beautiful, Catholic vision for America, it is paramount that she first be converted to the One True Faith. For this to happen, Catholicism in America must be continually converted, deepened into the fullness of truth, without compromise. The same is true for all of us. The same is true for me. Christ the King, Thy Kingdom come!

[DISCLAIMER: Tumblar House sent me this book free of charge, to read for my own enjoyment and to review if I wished to do so. As always, all of my opinions are my own, and cannot be bought for any price.] show less