"[The book] restores the Catholic role in San Francisco's development through the 1960's to its rightful place in the city's history... Issel convincingly shows that Catholic institutions shaped San Francisco's history far more than is understood. And from its backing of unions, civil rights, and the needs of the very poor, the Catholic Church fulfilled its mission of working for San Francisco's greater good." - BeyondChron, March 21st 2013 "William Issel's latest book, Church and State in the City, provides an important missing chapter in the telling of the history of San Francisco... [It] is a 'must'--both for its content and its wealth of references--for any historians whose research is focused on San Francisco. It will make many readers rethink what they thought they knew about the evolution of the city politic and what place religion has played in San Francisco's social, economic, and cultural evolution." - The Institute for Historical Study Newsletter, Spring 2013 "Issel is concerned with highlighting the importance of Catholic Christianity in the political culture of 20th-century San Francisco. He accomplishes this through a critical, contextualized narrative of various issues in the city's history (1890s-1970s) in which Catholic faith-based politics contributed to defining the city's 'common good.'... Even though Issel's coverage of San Francisco's political history is not comprehensive, his narrative is densely detailed... This solid book is worth adding to California, religious, and urban collections. Summing Up: Recommended. " - Choice, May 2013 "The book goes into great detail about the involvement of the Church in the various labor strikes that occurred in San Francisco during the twentieth century, making this a valuable book for those interested in labor history. This is a well-written and complete piece of scholarship that greatly illuminates the involvement of the Catholic Church in the public policy debates of the twentieth century. Although focused on San Francisco, it clearly places the events there in a national and international context as well as giving clear descriptions of the personalities and events that shaped the dynamics of the relationship between the Church and the urban political developments. This is a recommended book for undergraduate and graduate studies in both the History of American Catholicism and Urban History." - Catholic Library World, March 2013 "Church and State in the City is a fascinating analysis of the political history of San Francisco. William Issel makes a compelling case for the central role of religion, particularly the Catholic Church, in the development of a liberal-minded politics in San Francisco from the 1890s through the 1980s... [T]his book breaks new ground and makes a significant contribution to the fields of both urban and California history." - Pacific Historical Review "Issel's longstanding scholarly interest and expertise on the role of ethnicity, race, religion, and politics in American cities, particularly San Francisco, are readily evident in his most expansive treatment to date of church and politics in that city... The volume presents a superb narrative of twentieth-century public life in San Francisco while deftly interweaving analyses of national politics, international Catholic trends, and the local San Francisco context. Most significantly, it is exemplary in its scholarly integration of urban, political, and religious history." - Western Historical Quarterly
