Men Astutely Trained: A History of the Jesuits in the American Century [VINTAGE 1992] [FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING]

Fine unread condition dark brown glossy linen boards with gold spine lettering contained in a fine condition non price-clipped color photographic dust jacket. Includes Author Dedication; Preface; Introduction; Intermission; Notes and Index. Illustrated with a section of black-and-white photographic plates. "Vivid characters - jokers, wisemen, failures, the brilliant and the merely bemused - march through the pages of Men Astutely Trained. This is a world of vast imaginings and the most severe pragmatism. McDonough argues persuasively that the Jesuits in North America have been the carriers of a culture borne along by a fruitful and often frustrating tension between their dual commitment to ancient virtues and to the principled pursuit of the free play of ideas. Men Astutely Trained is a fascinating book, full of humor and sharp-eyed critique." - Jean Bethke Elshthain, Centennial Professor of Political Science, Vanderbilt University. "This is a courageous, ambitious book which captures the authentic drama of the Jesuits' confrontation with American modernity. Peter McDonough has produced a remarkable synthesis of religious and cultural history; he also tells a good story." - James T. Fisher, Assistant Professor of American Studies, Yale University. "This is more than a history of the Jesuits. It is a perceptive and provocative analysis of the transformation that swept through American Catholicism in the decades leading up to Vatican II. The personalities are so fascinating and the analysis is so incisive that once you start to read this book it is hard to put it down. If you want to understand what happened to American Catholicisom in this critical period, this book is indispensable." - Jay P. Dolan, Professor of History, University of Notre Dame. "[The book] is a sympathetic, but realistic and accurate portrait. McDonough makes use of his scholarly skills to explain developments among the Jesuits and to set them in the larger context of the sea-changes that have shaken the world and the Catholic Church in the world during the middle years of this century. He covers nearly all the major movements and the movers and shakers in them. I recommend this well-done study." - James Henesey, S.J., Professor of the History of Christianity, Canisius College. "The saga of the Jesuits in America is the story of the rise, decline, and transformation of the largest and most celebrated male religious order in Catholicism. As Peter McDonough shows, the historical drama of the Jesuits took root in the tensions between religious tradition and the ascent of modernity in the West. Founded by Ignatius Loyola in 1540, the Jesuits complemented the explosive economic and political expansion of that period by establishing themselves as educators - cultivators of human capital. Members of the Society of Jesus shaped the intellect and molded the character of Catholics throughout the European world and eventually America. In the days of immigrant and post-immigrant Catholicism in the United States, from the turn of the century through the period after World War II, the "swift, light cavalry of Christ" operated schools, seminaries, and univesities that spurred Catholics toward mobility and trained them for leadership. Equally influential were the efforts of Jesuit journalists, labor priests, missionaries, and others to respond to the social and political questions raised by the Great Depression, the unprecedented abundance of the fifties, the erosion of ethnic enclaves, the spreading influence of the mass media, and the cultural upheavals that converged in the sixties with the convening of the Second Vatican Council. Drawing on hundreds of personal interviews, a rich store of archival materials, and extensive observation, McDonough weaves a vivid narrative with imaginative interpretation to convey the intricacies and atmosphere of the Jesuit experience." - excerpt from the inner front jacket flap.…