and political consequences of the religion. At times he criticizes elements in the American religion for their political activities, saying even that he is "politically appalled by what may be some of its consequences. Since the Reagan-Bush national Republicans have become one with the American Religion, my fear is that we will never again see a Democrat in the Presidency during my lifetime." Publication history The first edition was published by Simon & Schuster in 1992 with the full title, The American Religion: The Emergence of the Post-Christian Nation. The second edition was published by Chu Hartley Publishers in 2006 without the subtitle and included a new afterword. Reception In Reviews in American History, Henry F. May writes that the work is "brilliant and original" and that "Historians interested in American religion ... will do well to read it and think about what it says." He also however criticizes Bloom for being "unabashedly subjective and sometimes wrong-headed" and using "sweeping generalizations". Writing in Commentary, Richard John Neuhaus dismissed the book as "a 288-page imaginative flirtation with nonsense". Neuhaus says that Bloom's interpretations of various denominations unduly ignore the explicit statements from these religious groups. Writing in America, James P. Hanigan says that Bloom offers "suggestive and important insights", particularly the claim that traditional Christianity is not well-suited to Americans, and that the belief in direct experience of God is connected to anti-intellectualism. Hanigan suggests though that Bloom's argument is motivated by his own "Gnostic" spirituality, and concludes that it is, in the end, unpersuasive. References External links Book review from New York Times 1992 non-fiction books 2006 non-fiction books Books by Harold Bloom English-language books Gnosticism Religion in the United States Religious studies books Simon & Schuster books