"Verhoeven offers a rich survey … . Verhoeven captures this repeated dialectic with admirable balance. … Verhoeven effectively shows the broader popular appeal of the separationist logic in the nineteenth century … .” (Leigh E. Schmidt, Church History, Vol. 89 (1), March, 2020)“Secularists, Religion and Government in Nineteenth-Century America is a comprehensive, convincing, and readable account of church-state attitudes during the ‘forgotten century.’ It should be on any instructor’s list as a text in an undergraduate or graduate course on American church and state.” (Steven K. Green, Journal of Church and State, Vol. 61 (4), 2019)“The author’s ‘bottom-up’ approach gauges popular opinion by examining petitions to Congress from secularists and evangelicals over a range of issues. … Summing Up: Recommended. Advanced undergraduates and above.” (W. B. Bedford, Choice, Vol. 56 (12), August, 2019)“Secularists, Religion and Government in Nineteenth-Century Americais a remarkable book, showcasing a relish in the historian’s craft and offering a compelling new vision of a major and pressing theme in US history. Scholars in religious and political history alike will find themselves in Verhoeven’s debt for a long time to come.” (Michael G. Thompson, Australasian Journal of American Studies, Vol. 38 (2), July, 2019)
