| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 110.5

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| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 110.5 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Canada and the United States

Michael J. McClymond, editor. Embodying the Spirit: New Perspectives on North American Revivalism. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. 2004. Pp. xiv, 346. $49.95.
In the past twenty-five years, much has been written about American revivals from the First Great Awakening in the colonial period to present-day manifestations. Yet, scholars continue to wrestle with the most basic questions regarding the phenomenon: Do revivals exist, and, if so, what exactly are they? Are they spontaneous displays of spiritual renewal that burst into evangelical flames in one location and spread like wildfire to others? Or, are they carefully orchestrated events staged periodically by organizers well versed in the arts of publicity and programming? Some reject the claim that certain revivals occurred at all, and others predict that they have run their course and will never recur.	1
While this volume of essays does not provide definitive answers to those big questions, it does illuminate revivalism in its many dimensions and from multiple perspectives. From editor Michael J. McClymond's fine introduction reviewing major issues and explanations to Martin Marty's trenchant reflections, the book offers much for the scholar of American religious history as well as the general reader. In the end, however, the sum of the parts is less than the individual contributions, an appraisal that speaks to the difficulty of discussing a subject that continues to raise the question, as Marty phrased it, "what, then, is revivalism?" (p. 273).	. . .

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