One Nation, Under Gods

"A necessary history of America's stunningly diverse religious heritage." —More

At the heart of the nation's spiritual history are audacious and often violent scenes. But the Puritans and the shining city on the hill give us just one way to understand the United States. Rather than recite American history from a Christian vantage point, Peter Manseau proves that what really happened is worth a close, fresh look.

Thomas Jefferson himself collected books on all religions and required that the brand new Library of Congress take his books, since Americans needed to consider the "twenty gods or no god" he famously noted were revered by his neighbors. Looking at the Americans who believed in these gods, Manseau fills in America's story of itself, from the persecuted "witches" at Salem and who they really were, to the persecuted Buddhists in World War II-era California, from spirituality and cults in the '60s to the twenty-first century presidential election where both candidates were for the first time non-traditional Christians.

One Nation, Under Gods shows how much more there is to the history we tell ourselves, right back to the country's earliest days. Dazzling in its scope and sweep, it is an American history unlike any you've read.

"With tales of secret faiths, false tolerance, and quiet yet formidable dissent, each chapter is a window onto lives that lived on the margin of Christian narratives."—New York Times Book Review

"Much more than a simple catalog of diversity . . . a stunning history of cross-pollination." —Bookforum