Book Review: Faith and Fatherland: The Polish Church War in Wisconsin 1896-1918

Hello,

Last week, I finished reading the book titled Faith & Fatherland: The Polish Church War in Wisconsin 1896-1918, written by Anthony J. Kuzniewski. An image of the book is below.

I had loaned the book from my local library. The book is also available at Amazon buy following this link. The book was published in 1981, so I’m a little behind the times…

The book is about certain Polish Priests and lay people, in the Milwaukee Archdiocese, who felt that the growing Polish population needed Polish Bishops to help lead the Catholic Church in the late 1890’s to 1910’s. On the other side of the battle was the German Arch-Bishop Messmer and his allies that felt the church should not be divided into ethnic factions and did not want to appease the Polish opposition. The book documents all of the verbal and written battles that were fought throughout the church war. Various outlets were used such as English and Polish newspapers, along with coalitions and alliances. Overall the book was very well written and presented itself as a very interesting read.

I highly suggest anyone who is looking to learn about the Polish-American political environment during 1890-1920, in Milwaukee and throughout the Midwest, to read this book.

Best Regards,
Al