Ms. Lum presents a long and detailed history of the codification of non-Christians as lesser beings or “heathens” through much or most of the modern period. The author presents historical and political events from an Asian vantage, but does not overlook the effects to African and Latin American counties and peoples.

A sizable fraction of the 368 pages were presented in an academic manner. I suppose this stands to reason as the author is an associate professor at Stanford University and the publisher is the Harvard University Press. If I didn’t have such a backlog on books, I would go back over this one with a highlighter to identify organizations and events with which I was unfamiliar (and there were many).

It is apparent that Ms. Lum’s motivation for this book was that the most absurd, outrageous, and overtly racist “policies” (more often, stunts) of the Trump Administration. For highly educated people, the absurdity of many genuinely stupid ideas was baffling. The confusion was exacerbated by the support such ideas had among Evangelical Christians. This book argues that many of the ridiculous ideas increasingly proffered by the American right have roots in religious nativism (my designation, not hers) going back several generations.

I found this book enlightening. And infuriating. This book will certainly explain how so many intrinsically harmful and hateful policies and proposals have come into being. But it may raise your blood pressure to dangerous levels.