Review by Choice Review
The essays in this collection explore the religious landscape along the Mississippi River from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. The contributors explore the religious traditions of African slaves during the antebellum period, the religious changes introduced by Christian missionaries into the worlds of the Choctaw and Chickasaw, the tensions created by the introduction of new religious movements (e.g., Mormon) into the river valley, the rise of the holiness and Pentecostal movements in the delta region, and the influence of Roman Catholicism in the lower Mississippi, as well as the influence of Mississippi culture on the life and religion of singer Johnny Cash. In his introductory essay, Pasquier (Louisiana State Univ.) ties these disparate essays together by pointing to "the collision and coalescence of religious people and ideas in a region known for its cultural shapeshifting." He argues that this study of religion and culture along the Mississippi poses a counterpoint to the "overwhelmingly Protestant, nationalist and frontier narratives of the United States" and leads scholars to reexamine traditional regional categories such as New England, the Middle Atlantic, and the Old Northwest, a point expanded upon by Thomas Tweed (Univ. of Texas) in his afterword. Summing Up: Recommended. All academic levels/libraries. B. F. Le Beau University of Saint Mary
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review