The author brings thirty-five years of experience to bear in analysing the turbulence that characterises world politics, American public life, and the Catholic Church in the early twenty-first century.

In these essays, Weigel reads such events as the First World War, the collapse of Communism, and the Obama and Trump presidencies through a distinctive cultural and moral lens, even as he offers new insights into Pope Francis and his challenging pontificate.

Throughout, two of Weigel's key convictions—that ideas have consequences for good and ill, and that the deepest currents of history flow through culture—illuminate political and economic life, and the life of the Church, in ways not often appreciated or understood. The chapters in this book are unique in their application of philosophical and theological perspectives to the issues of history and politics.