Not since the Civil War had America been so divided by conflict. Religion was the prime agent in this unusual Left versus Right, Fundamentalists versus Modernists; Christians versus Jews; Protestant versus Catholic; white versus black. In this volume, Martin E. Marty tells the riveting story of how America has survived religious disturbances and culturally prospered from them. "He tells the story [of the 1920s and 1930s] with a verve seldom equaled and manages to condense in one volume the results of dozens of specialized monographs... [It] bears the usual hallmarks of a Marty a smoothly flowing narrative, passages studded with suggestive insight inviting further research, and apt quotations that capture the gist of complicated issues... [A] splendid book... Deserves a wide readership and undoubtedly will receive it." —James H. Moorhead, Chicago Sunday Tribune "There is simply no better source, certainly none so engaging, for the interactions of religion and the larger culture in the interwar period." —Robert Booth Fowler, Journal of American History "[This book is] not merely a history of American religion, but what might better be called a religious history" —David M. Kennedy, New York Times Book Review
Author
Martin Emil Marty is an American Lutheran religious scholar who has written extensively on 19th century and 20th century American religion. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1956, and served as a Lutheran pastor from 1952 to 1962 in the suburbs of Chicago. From 1963 to 1998 he taught at the University of Chicago Divinity School, held an endowed chair, and now holds emeritus status. He has served Saint Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota since 1988 as Regent, Board Chair, Interim President in late 2000, and now as Senior Regent. He has been a columnist for The Christian Century magazine since 1956. He has authored over 5,000 articles and been conferred with 75 honorary doctorates.
