Religion in Twentieth Century America

The photographs that illustrate this book are perhaps its best feature. They include pictures of the Scopes trial, a lynching, the Jonestown massacre, and many more. The text is straightforward and rather sober, with a generally liberal bias. Its target readership is young adult. It perhaps understates the impact of 'fringe' religions such as Scientology. The account of the origin and rise of the televangelists is particularly good. Very much a volume for a school library, it is worth looking at just for the illustrations.

This neat little book is a wonderful overview of the evolution of religion in the United States in the twentieth century. The book begins with the early schism between the more conservative branch of Protestantism (which produced the Fundamentals of the Faith) and the more liberal branch (which produced the National Council of Churches). However, as it flows along, it embraces the streams Roman Catholic and Jewish development. Eventually, the book examines the arrival of traditional non-Judeo-Christian religions, and New Age religions.This is a great book, one that gives the reader a clear understanding of religion in the United States, and how we arrived at this point. Although originally written for High School age readers (or perhaps because of that), it is highly informative to any reader, and indeed this orientation means that it is an easy read for those not already knowledgeable about the subject. I highly recommend this book.