American Messiahs

False Prophets of a Damned Nation

By: Adam Morris

Narrated by: Joel Richards

A history with sweeping implications, American Messiahs challenges our previous misconceptions about "cult" leaders and their messianic power.

Mania surrounding messianic prophets has defined the national consciousness since the American Revolution. From Civil War veteran and virulent anticapitalist Cyrus Teed, to the dapper and overlooked civil rights pioneer Father Divine, to even the megalomaniacal Jim Jones, these figures have routinely been dismissed as dangerous and hysterical outliers.

After years of studying these emblematic figures, Adam Morris demonstrates that messiahs are not just a classic trope of our national culture; their visions are essential for understanding American history. As Morris demonstrates, these charismatic, if flawed, would-be prophets sought to expose and ameliorate deep social ills - such as income inequality, gender conformity, and racial injustice. Provocative and long overdue, this is the story of those who tried to point the way toward an impossible "American Dream": men and women who momentarily captured the imagination of a nation always searching for salvation.

©2019 Adam Morris (P)2019 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Nothing new under the flag

I thought I knew quite a bit about the wacky journey of religion in the USA but this book revealed that there have been even wackier years of copy-cat religionists saying they were God in the flesh & preying on humans who thought they could trust these gender bending faith leaders. Big mistake. And, the majority of these wackadoodles did it with no TV!

Perfect

Cult and religion is my favorite subject. I’ve read piles of it and this is one of the best. I bought the paperback.

Maddening Mispronunciations

Good history of an interesting topic. The epilogue alone is worth the price of the book. I would’ve given it a 4 stars (it takes something pretty special to get a 5 out of me) except that the narrator has the really annoying habit of mispronouncing words; lots and lots of words. It’s grating and distracting in the same way as frequent wrong notes would be in a musical performance (Samuel Taylor “COOLeridge,” Mr. Richards? Seriously?) The narrator has a nice voice and a smooth delivery…but god, man, study up on your lexicon!

An amazing unbiased review of the history of this movement in the USA

Opened my eyes to the need of communal living and working in the USA as well as the problems and pitfalls this path takes.