Brilliant and engaging. Across chapters ranging from ''John Wayne Will Save Your Ass'' to ''Holy Balls,'' Du Mez peppers her text with entertaining (and sometimes horrifying) examples.--Matthew Avery Sutton, The New Republic Du Mez leads us with apparent ease, as only a seasoned historian can . It is impossible to do justice to the richness of Jesus and John Wayne in a short review, but one of the key points the book stresses is that as Christian nationalists, the vast majority of white evangelicals believe that our country''s flourishing depends on aggressive male leadership. The pervasive abusive patterns of white evangelical subculture replicate themselves on a large social scale in the Christian Right''s politics. Since understanding this will be crucial if Americans are to have a functional democratic future, Jesus and John Wayne is a book that America needs now. I hope it will be widely read.--Chrissy Stroop, Boston Globe Paradigm-influencing.

A very readable page-turner."--Scot McKnight, Christianity Today This deeply perceptive book establishes Kristin Kobes Du Mez as the Christian critic of this crisis moment. Required reading.--Kathryn Lofton, Yale University, author of Consuming Religion Interesting . I hear people say all the time that Trump''s election was a tragedy for evangelicals, but after reading [this] book, I wonder if it isn''t their greatest victory.--Sean Illing, Vox Politically, Kristin Kobes Du Mez''s new book, Jesus and John Wayne , offers an extremely important--and underrated--insight into why white evangelicals have fallen so deeply in love with Donald Trump. Personally, and for all of us who lived through this history, the book surfaces deep continuities between different people, events, movements, and trends that we may not have noticed. It is a scholarly work of history, but it is so well written that it promises to be popular with a wide audience.

Highly recommended, especially at this critical moment in religious, cultural, and political history."--Brian D. McLaren, author of A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith Jesus and John Wayne demolishes the myth that Christian nationalists simply held their noses to form a pragmatic alliance with Donald Trump. With brilliant analysis and detailed scholarship, Kristin Kobes Du Mez shows how conservative evangelical leaders have promoted the authoritarian, patriarchal values that have achieved their finest representative in Trump. A stunning exploration of the relationship between modern evangelicalism, militarism, and American masculinity."--Katherine Stewart, author of The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism This deeply perceptive book establishes Kristin Kobes Du Mez as the Christian critic of this crisis moment. She demonstrates how a certain warrior fantasy saturated white evangelicalism and decided American elections. Along the way, we discover how our political life became defined by the conjunction of religion and popular culture.

Required reading.--Kathryn Lofton, Yale University, author of Consuming Religion A much needed and painstakingly accurate chronicle of exactly ''where many evangelicals are,'' and the long road that got them there.--Tom Cox, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Wielding supreme command of evangelical theology, popular culture, history and politics, as well as rare skill with the pen, Kristin Kobes Du Mez explodes the myth that evangelicals voted for Donald Trump in spite of his crude machismo. It turns out that the opposite is true: for generations, white male evangelical leaders and their supportive wives have been building a movement of brazen masculinity and patriarchal authority, with hopes of finding a warrior who could extend their power to the White House. In Trump they found their man. This is a searing and sobering book, one that should be read by anyone who wants to grasp our political moment and the religious movement that helped get us here.--Darren Dochuk, author of Anointed With Oil: How Christianity and Crude Made Modern America Fascinating . Sure to be controversial, the author''s closely reasoned argument is thoughtful and provoking.

--Michael Cart, Booklist I endorse Kristin Du Mez''s lively and readable account of evangelical political history, having personally seen it from the inside during nearly three decades with the National Association of Evangelicals. Those who legitimately ask ''How can evangelicals support Donald Trump?'' need to read this book to understand why. An extraordinary work.--Reverend Richard Cizik, President of the New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good Usually I will stay away from books on religion [but] the pop culture intersection of American politics and American evangelicalism proved tempting, and thankfully, most worthwhile. [Du Mez] has assembled all the top personalities and all the turning points in a fast-moving, if stomach-churning history that ultimately explains how America adopted Donald Trump. It is less than pretty. This one has staying power. It is successful, and it is a shame.

--David Wineberg, San Francisco Review of Books [An] engaging history of the shifting ideal of Christian masculinity. Persuasively arguing that the evangelical dismissal of Trump''s flaws is the culmination of believing that ''God-given testosterone came with certain side effects,'' Du Mez closes with a bruising chapter on recent evangelical leaders'' abuses and sex scandals . This lucid, potent history adds a much needed religious dimension to understanding the current American right and the rise of Trump.--Publishers Weekly The well-researched narrative is reasoned and dispassionate. Readers not on the fringe right will find it difficult to take issue with her arguments. An evangelical-focused anti-Trump book that carries academic weight.--Kirkus Reviews An insightful examination of white Christian masculinities from the era of Billy Graham and John Wayne to Mark Driscoll and Donald Trump. Du Mez covers a lot of cultural ground .

This timely exploration helps readers place President Trump and his supporters in the context of white Christian America''s reaction to mid-20th-century social justice activism.--Anna J. Clutterbuck-Cook, Library Journal.