The topic is not Christianity in America, but the varieties of Christianities. For example, rapture theology might be a recent innovation, but it comes from a deep current in American religious practice. Under Wills' hands, Deists have their time in the sun, the Methodists take over the country and the Baptists evolve from an embattled minority fighting against established religion to proponents of faith based government.

While Wills spends a great deal of time on mini-biographies of seminal figures, he has a major theme which he follows through the centuries, the swing of the pendulum between Enlightenment (head) and Evangelical (heart) religion. He does not see these as enemies or opposites, just poles that most of us swing between. It is an excellent organizing principle.

So who is this book for? It is a good general text on religion and its impact on American history, sure to inform a general reader without becoming academic. It is excellent at the Enlightenment and Romanticism and how they fit into the development of of American intellectual and religious history. It helps explain how denominations come into existence, grow and mature. It covers the rise of the Religious Right and its century long impact on U.S. culture.

I give this book high marks. I like an author who knows what he is talking about. I like non-fiction that doesn't just cover the winners and gives the forgotten giants their due. The text is clear, but not dumbed down. I like opinions when they don't get in the way of solid analysis. I wanted to read it twice.