Hellfire NationThe Politics of Sin in American History

NT$ 370

• Mar 03, 2003
  592 p., 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
  43 b/w illus.
  ISBN: 9780300094848
  Cloth: $40.00 tx
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History
Political Science
Religion

Hellfire Nation

The Politics of Sin in American History

• James A. Morone

REVIEWS	PREVIEW	CONTENTS	EXCERPTS

Selected by AAUP as ’The Best of the Best from the University Presses: Books you Should Know About’

Selected as one of Christianity Today’s top ten books of 2003

Named April 2003 book of the month by The History News Network

Named an Outstanding Book of 2003 by the San Jose Mercury News

The American Constitution firmly separates church and state. Yet religion lies at the heart of American politics. How did America become a nation with the soul of a church? In Hellfire Nation, James Morone recasts American history as a moral epic. From the colonial era to the present day, Americans embraced a Providential mission, tangled with devils, and aspired to save the world.

Moral fervor ignited our fiercest social conflicts—but it also moved dreamers to remake the nation in the name of social justice. Moral crusades inspired abolition, woman suffrage, and civil rights, even as they led Americans to hang witches, enslave Africans, and ban liquor. Today these moral arguments continue, influencing the debate over everything from abortion to foreign policy.

Written with passion and deep insight, Hellfire Nation tells the story of a brawling, raucous, religious people. Morone shows how fears of sin and dreams of virtue defined the shape of the nation.

James A. Morone, professor of political science at Brown University, is also the author of The Democratic Wish: Popular Participation and the Limits of American Government.

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