A Stone of Hope: Prophetic Religion and the Death of Jim Crow

If you don't have a subscription to the magazine, you will not be able to read the review, but here is the first paragraph. New & Noteworthy by Benjamin Schwarz Chappell's is one of the three or four most important books on the civil-rights movement, but because its conclusions will unsettle, or at least irritate, much of its natural constituency, it will surely fail to gain the attention it deserves. This unusually sophisticated and subtle study takes an unconventional and imaginative approach by examining both sides in the struggle: Chappell asks what strengthened those who fought segregation in the South and what weakened their enemies. His answer in both cases is evangelical Christianity.

The Civil Rights Movement has been well covered by previous writers and I have enjoyed most writings on the subject. In A Stone of Hope I see a fresh perspective, a stone that has not been turned before. The role of religion,especially the "old time religion " of southern Black people has now been elevated to its proper height in the analysis of the success of the movement for equality and freedom. God's voice was echoed by the leaders of the movement and an evil system was dismantled. Faith gave them the fire that moved a race of people to stand up for what was theirs and the world is better for their having believed that God would not allow the Oppressors to continue in their sins. It was truly a prophetic movement. I think that all who are interested in the history of the struggle for justice in America should read this book

One of the most important books in recent years on the civil rights movement by an up-and-coming historian who takes no prisoners, pulls no punches. An absolute delight to read and meticulously researched. Demonstrates the crucial influence of religious ideas on the civil rights movement and the end of Jim Crow desegregation. Must reading for students of 20th-century American history and religion.