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Item Details
| Title:
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THE KINGDOM OF MATTHIAS
A STORY OF SEX AND SALVATION IN 19TH-CENTURY AMERICA |
| By: |
Paul E. Johnson, Sean Wilentz |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| List price:
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£15.99 |
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We believe that this item is permanently unavailable, and so we cannot source
it.
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| ISBN 10: |
0199892490 |
| ISBN 13: |
9780199892495 |
| Publisher: |
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS INC |
| Pub. date: |
2 April, 2012 |
| Edition: |
2nd Revised edition |
| Pages: |
256 |
| Description: |
In this book, the strange tale of Matthias the Prophet provides a fascinating window into the turbulent movements of the religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening-movements which swept up great numbers of evangelical Americans and gave rise to new sects like the Mormons. Shedding new light on the communal religious cultism that has continued to shock and perplex Americans today, the authors elucidate the many enduring connections between the Americanreligious experience and rapid economic change, sex and gender, race relations, and literature (high and low). |
| Synopsis: |
Paul Johnson and Sean Wilentz brilliantly recapture the forgotten story of Matthias the Prophet, imbuing their richly researched account with the dramatic force of a novel. In the hands of Johnson and Wilentz, the strange tale of Matthias opens a fascinating window into the turbulent movements of the religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening-movements that swept up great numbers of evangelical Americans and gave rise to new sects like the Mormons. Into this teeming environment walked a down-and-out carpenter named Robert Matthews, who announced himself as Matthias, prophet of the God of the Jews. His hypnotic personality drew in a cast of unforgettable characters-the meekly devout businessman Elijah Pierson, who once tried to raise his late wife from the dead; the young attractive Christian couple, Benjamin Folger and his wife Ann (who seduced the woman-hating Prophet); and the shrewd ex-slave Isabella Van Wagenen, regarded by some as "the most wicked of the wicked."None was more colorful than the Prophet himself, a bearded, thundering tyrant who gathered his followers into an absolutist household, using their money to buy an elaborate, eccentric wardrobe, and reordering their marital relations. By the time the tensions within the kingdom exploded into a clash with the law, Matthias had become a national scandal. "Written with the sweep and narrative drive of a best seller...It has sex and sexual depravity, violence, murder, a courtroom drama, a media feeding frenzy, prostitution, lunacy, theft, religion (plenty of that), politics, social commentary, subtle humor, a fascinating if weird cast of characters, and a surprise ending." -Atlantic Monthly "The Kingdom of Matthias is about marginality, fantasy, commerce, sex, and the soul's hunger, and the classically American combustion of all of the above...A delicious and disturbing book." -Leon Wieseltier "As exciting as a novel...a wonderful book that will keep you up all night." -Katha Pollitt |
| Illustrations: |
6 line illustrations, 2 maps |
| Publication: |
US |
| Imprint: |
Oxford University Press Inc |
| Returns: |
Returnable |
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