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 American religious experience and rapid economic change, sex and gender, race relations, and literature (high and low).

• Prologue: Two Prophets at Kirtland


• One: Elijah Pierson


• Two: Robert Matthews


• Three: The Kingdom


• Four: The Downfall


• Epilogue


• A Note on Sources


• Notes


• Acknowledgments

Paul E. Johnson is Distinguished Professor of History Emeritus at the University of South Carolina and is the author of numerous books, including Sam Patch, the Famous Jumper and A Shopkeeper's Millennium: Society and Revivals in Rochester, New York, 1815-1837.
Sean Wilentz is George Henry Davis 1886 Professor of American History, Princeton University. He is the author of Chants Democratic: New York City and the Rise of the American Working Class, 1788-1950 and The Rise of Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln, among other titles.