Sacred Liberty: America's Long, Bloody, and Ongoing Struggle for Religious Freedom traces the “long march to religious freedom” in the United States, as stated in its introduction. It presents a cautiously progressive view of history—that the nation has slowly expanded on its promise of religious freedom and equality but not without many missteps along the way. The book's chronological and topical coverage is ambitious, beginning with the Puritan colonial settlements in New England and concluding with post-9/11 prejudice against American Muslims, including President Trump's “Muslim travel-ban.” The book is arranged in a rough chronology of topics, some familiar—for example, James Madison and the drafting of the First Amendment—and some that have only received attention more recently, at least in traditional histories (for example, the forced Christianization of Native Americans). Sacred Liberty is written for a popular audience and that factor, along with the four hundred-year period covered, means that its discussions of the various topics lack a comprehensive quality. Nonetheless, it addresses the more crucial events in a thoughtful and balanced manner.

Because Sacred Liberty is written for a popular audience, it cannot be said that it makes a significant contribution to the scholarly literature. Most of its discussion covers well-trodden ground. That said, the narrative is engaging and its topics are supported with extensive authority. The book can generously be placed within the broad category of works by authors such as Jon Meacham, Stephen Ambrose, and Doris Kearns Goodwin. As a result, Sacred Liberty will introduce this subject to a wider audience than many more-scholarly monographs, for which the author can be thanked.