This is among the best scholarly works I've encountered in the course of a long academic career. It is both meticulously researched and beautifully written and it has quickly become one of the books that I reference most frequently in my work. Holifield has written the definitive book in his field and although those readers looking for a light and easy primer on theological history would best search elsewhere, those with serious interest in the American theological past will find no better book out there than this one.