From Booklist: Hughes gives a fascinating account of the transformation of the nineteenth-century restorationist movement associated with Alexander Campbell and Barton W. Stone from sect to denomination. More properly, it is the story of the transformation of two movements marked by primitivism, apocalypticism, and "common sense realism" into a single sect, then into a single denomination, and finally into two denominations divided along cultural, sectional, and theological lines. Hughes notes "a maze of division" in the tradition but focuses his attention on a "mainstream" that has thrived in the twentieth century, "especially in a region running from middle Tennessee to west Texas." This maps a territory distinct from the other mainstream of the tradition, identified with the generally liberal, generally midwestern denomination known as Disciples of Christ. This is local history with global significance, an account of one way in which countercultural evasion of philosophy and denial of ideology have shaped philosophies, ideologies, and cultures in the U.S. Steve Schroeder --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. * About the Author: Richard T. Hughes is Senior Fellow in the Ernest L. Boyer Center and Distinguished Professor of Religion at Messiah College in Grantham, Pennsylvania. He has written in a variety of fields, including the history of Churches of Christ ("Reclaiming a Heritage" [2002] and "The American Origins of Churches of Christ" [2002]); Christian Faith and Higher Education ("The Vocation of a Christian Scholar" [2005] and "Models for Christian Higher Education" [1997]); the restoration ideal ("Illusions of Innocence" [with Leonard Allen, 1988] and "The American Quest for the Primitive Church" [1988]); and the religious dimensions of American nationalism ("Myths America Lives By" [2003] and "The Myth of Christian America" [2008]). In addition to Messiah College, he has taught at Abilene Christian University, Pepperdine University, and Southwest Missouri State University.