New books

Forms of religion in American society can be fascinating thanks to their variety, even disarray. The author of this book, who has long been concerned with the relationship between culture and religion, provides a key: introducing the major American denominations and spiritual movements as they appeared in the US history and how they were projected into public life and the arts, especially literature and film. The particular “impressions” thus offer a description of Puritans, Quakers, Evangelicals and Mormons, charting the development of Catholicism, Judaism and Buddhism on the American soil and examining the religious forms of African Americans, Neo-Paganism, as well as the religious aspects of Freemasonry, Transcendentalism and the Beat Generation. The title is accompanied by a substantial photographic material, which the author acquired during his one year’s stay in the US.