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

In this landmark work, award-winning Princeton historian Leigh Schmidt teams up with eminent American religious history scholar Edwin Gaustad to produce a fully revised, updated, and expanded version of a modern classic. First published in 1966, The Religious History of America made the religious dimensions of our common history readily accessible to a generation of readers. This edition remains true to the literary grace of earlier editions as it expands its scope, increasing the emphasis on pluralism, religious practices, and spiritual seeking, as well as the direct connection of religion to social and political struggle. The authors have updated the structure of the text, replacing the five distinct ages of Gaustad's previous editions with a more explicit emphasis on specific historical markers, carrying the multifaceted story of religion in the United States into the twenty-first century.

Extensively illustrated, and with a new emphasis on African-American and Native American religious life, Eastern religions, and the recent boom in spirituality, this new edition of The Religious History of America is the master telling of the heart and soul of the American story.

Author Biography: Edwin S. Gaustad is a professor of history at the University of California, Riverside. He is a noted church historian and the author of over a dozen books, including The Great Awakening in New England, Dissent in American Religion, and A Religious History of America.