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The Religious History of America: The Heart of the American Story from Colonial Times to Today Kindle Edition

by Edwin S. Gaustad (Author), Leigh Schmidt (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 156 ratings
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A Dynamic Account of Religion's Central Role in American History

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  1. Print length
    476 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    HarperOne
  5. Publication date
    December 15, 2015
  6. File size
    5462 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Since the first edition was published in 1966, this work has remained a standard text for American religious history. The 2002 revision, by Gaustad (history, emeritus, Univ. of California, Riverside) and Schmidt (religion, Princeton Univ.), retains the core material with a revised chapter structure, updated bibliographies, and some text revisions. In some cases, the revisions are simply rearrangements of chapter sections, while in others there is a shift in terminology e.g., using "African American" for "black" and replacing "American religion" with the more clearly designated "American Protestantism." While such changes are subtle, they do alter the tone of the work, bringing it more in line with current approaches to the study of religion and American culture. In the case of the last three chapters, the authors have done considerable revision and brought the history up to the turn of the century. The overall result is a well-balanced enhancement of an excellent work. Recommended for all libraries. Jan Blodgett, Davidson Coll. Lib., NC
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A superb job." -- --Winthrop Hudson, author of Religion in America

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0166JZZ0S
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperOne; 1st edition (December 15, 2015)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 15, 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 5462 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 476 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 156 ratings

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  1. Edwin S. Gaustad

    Edwin S. Gaustad

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
156 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Tavish Garza
5.0 out of 5 stars Pricing
Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2023
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This book was a requirement for my college course. Loved learning from this book and pricing was good!
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Carmen J Lang
4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good but biased of course
Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2019
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It’s a pretty good book but has biases as well and seems to misunderstand certain parts of US history but usually this is unrelated to religious stuff. The last half of the book covers the 20th century which I’m not interested in at all. The first half was decent. He didn’t do careful research when touching on George Washington. These drawbacks but still there was much I learned or had solidified.
One person found this helpful
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Michael Evans
5.0 out of 5 stars Why Not Kindle?
Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2011
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I'm reading this book for a masters level class. It is surprisingly interesting to read. It provides a brief overview of American religious history beginning with Native American beliefs. The book is heavy on names and dates so it makes a great textbook. It ties the idea of separation of Church and state in well and gives a good description as to the reason for religious freedom.
There is one thing this book needs .... electronic version! I bought it used because it was a textbook and nether the writer or the publisher receive a thing when this is done. I will sell it just because it is paper and I don't keep many paper books any more. I would have gladly paid the price for a Kindle version because of the search-ability of that format. I would love to have this book as a resource in my library but paper just does not allow the quick reference that electronic books provide.
This book is worth the read even if you are not required to do so for a class. History lovers will enjoy it.
8 people found this helpful
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Jakob lee c
5.0 out of 5 stars Bought For A University Class
Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2019
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I am not sure what the premise was back when I bought this for my Religious Studies class, as maybe Amazon didn't have the rental program yet or something, but I definitely found it cheaper here than if I would have bought the textbook through the university. As far as the content goes, I honestly don't remember. It very well could have been one of those books that was assigned to have in class, but never used (as is the usual with University for some unknown reason).
One person found this helpful
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Drifting Fox
5.0 out of 5 stars Saved $
Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2019
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Thank you for making this available digitally. Many of the classes I take only use half of the textbook or less! Being able to pay a lower price and access it digitally or even the hardcopy that Amazon sells saves money on a product you may not fully use.
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K
4.0 out of 5 stars Good historical overview
Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2012
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It was a well written book on the history of Christian and Jewish religion in America. It provided a general overview of the progression of different denominations alongside the development of this country. The author showed how different groups reacted/responded to major events in American history (the revolution, civil war, etc).
4 people found this helpful
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Robert
5.0 out of 5 stars Eye opening and educating
Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2014
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I am still working on this book, but so far I can see how the young person of today gets bored with school. What is contained in this book so far, was never taught in school. For some reason adults feel that telling a factual story about how we as a country developed is too hard for our children to handle is really short changing them.
3 people found this helpful
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danny tice
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent overview
Reviewed in the United States on August 15, 2017
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This book did an excellent job in highlighting the key movements in American religious history. The book did fail to mentioned the Charismatic Movement of the late 60s- 80s. This movement impacted many denominations as well as was the impetus for new styles of music in church services
6 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Brian Griffith
5.0 out of 5 stars A Marvelous Tapestry of Grand Arguments
Reviewed in Canada on November 29, 2008
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Gaustad and Schmidt weave a gigantic tapestry of stories, heroes, movements, and culture wars, over the whole history of American religious life. A lot of Americans feel their country's history reveals the journey of God's people no less than the history of ancient Israel. And why not? Like that ancient history book, this one captures an epic series of running arguments between revolutionaries, imperialists, feminists, racists, egalitarians, ethnic purists, universalists, legalists, holy rollers or apocalyptic fanatics, all upholding their visions of justice, truth, and beauty. The story Gaustad and Schmidt present meets the literalist criteria of truth, because all those voices really spoke. The book provides a grand overview of the discussion, that helps us choose which voices will shape our lives.

--author of Correcting Jesus
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