"Gura's study further broadens our view of the man, insightfully placing him in the context of the Connecticut River valley's powerful and learned network of Calvinist ministers."—Daniel Sullivan, The Weekly Standard

“As raw and stinging as a fresh burn . . . It’s hard to imagine a personal history more transporting than this one, with its rigorously original prose (not a single cliché in 300-plus pages), emotional detail and bibliophilic departures into the musty caverns of American history.”—Los Angeles Times

"A pleasure to read, the book brings back a culture now distant in time, as well as space, with both specificity and sensuality. Vietnamese American readers may be particularly moved and enriched by the book's evocation of their historical and cultural legacy. The accessible style makes the book appropriate for undergraduate as well as graduate courses. It would fit naturally in courses on indigenous religions and on religion and healing. In Buddhist studies, it would be valuable in courses on Buddhism in practice as well as, of course, Buddhism and healing. Additionally, I can imagine excerpting chapters as bracing additions and antidotes to the usual fare in Buddhist survey courses."—Franz Metcalf, Journal of Global Buddhism

"At the outset of this well-written book, Tanenbaum tells her own story to the reader, as she has told it to the many women she interviewed, to provide a context to her own quest . . . She describes herself as an observant Jew who 'respects Jewish law and adheres to it to the fullest of my abilities. Jewish law guides many, if not most, of the small and large actions I take every single day.' A proud feminist . . . She admits to days filled with contradictions in a life that is both modern and preserving of Jewish traditions. As she takes Jewish law seriously, she also leaves open the opportunity to struggle with the law. While Tanenbaum attends Orthodox services, she doesn’t appreciate sitting upstairs and separate, far from the action. But she says she gains spiritual strength from many aspects of the service, and also attends a monthly partnership minyan near her home on the Upper East Side where women have opportunities to have a role in leading the service. Tanenbaum sees her own struggle as mild in comparison to what others face. The author and her subjects seem to connect, as fellow travelers along paths of faith, even as their paths diverge. Women were very open with her, welcoming her into their places of worship and their public and private conversations. She had no problem finding women to interview; she went to conferences, made connections, and then was linked to other women. 'Dissatisfied people,' she notes, 'want to talk.' She found that the Muslim women in particular wanted to be heard, and appreciated the opportunity to talk to someone who would listen to them respectfully and without judgment. Frequently, the curiosity was reciprocal. She noticed that people who are devout want to know about other faiths . . . Muslim women talked to her about their longings for and efforts at women-led prayer, and also about their frustrations with having to enter their places of worship through a back door; one woman told of hearing a visiting imam preach about the permissibility of wife beating. These women . . . are confident that the egalitarian impulse and gender justice are there, within Islam. They also spoke candidly about how they feel about covering themselves with the traditional hijab . . . Tanenbaum’s chapters on Jewish women are incisive, providing some of the best concise explanations of Jewish rituals and practice, and Orthodox feminists’ perspectives . . . Books change their writers as well as their readers, and Tanenbaum admits that writing this book broadened her outlook."—Sandee Brawarsky, The Jewish Week

"This book deserves a wide readership. The Muslims don't understand us, we don't understand them. Faith at War goes a long way toward solving the second part of that dismal equation."—Philip Caputo, The New York Times Book Review