Reddit mentions of A Shopkeeper's Millennium: Society and Revivals in Rochester, New York, 1815-1837

Hi, I'm a historian recently graduated from an MA program, and also a prospective Episcopalian. If you're interested in the history of Christianity in the United States you're in luck! One of the last courses I took(and easily the most interesting) was an independent study my professor and I called "Religion and American Life". I'll provide a selected annotated bibliography here:


1. Under the Cope of Heaven: Religion, Society, and Politics in Colonial America by Patricia Bonomi. Bonomi's book covers the colonial period pretty well, and it is, I think, the shortest of the three, but no less interesting.


2. Southern Cross: The Beginnings of the Bible Belt by Christine Leigh Heyrman is a really amazing book that covers the early evangelical movement in the South during the Second Great Awakening in the 1790s.


2.5 A Shopkeeper's Millennium: Society and Revivals in Rochester, New York, 1815-1837 by Paul E. Johnson. Johnson's book, depending your views about when the 19th century started, is a really interesting and compelling history of the religious movement in Rochester NY during a very important time in its development. It includes economics, if that's your thing.


3. Without Benefit of Clergy: Women and the Pastoral Relationship in Nineteenth Century American Culture by Karin E. Gedge. If a more 19th century view is what you're after especially about women is interesting, then you'll like this one very much. It is a really interesting take and cultural history is fun to read.

I hope this was of assistance to you. Enjoy!

Edit: the formatting is funky and I don't know why. sorry.

I think you might enjoy some books that often serve as a learning tool for many sociology students.

A Shopkeeper's Millennium by Paul E. Johnson.

Obedience to Authority by Stanley Milgram.

Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond.

War and Empire by Paul Atwood.

Each book is either a study to prove or present a hypothesis, so naturally tries to present evidence in a simple and clear way. No extended parts on boring sociological theory. The books are all easy to read and understand, and most importantly they are all a pretty good read.
One thing they all have in common is that their value or methodology is often controversial and highly debated in many crowds.

For instance, the Milgram book is the foundation for the famous Milgram Yale Shock Experiments in the 60's, so naturally there is the issue with ethics and methodology. If I remember correctly, this study is the reason any scientist today has to have his/her work approved by an Ethics Committee every time human subjects are involved.

War and Empire is a bit far-fetched at times, but is still very engaging, and at times hard to put away. Some might argue that it falls under 'History' more than 'Sociology', but because of how recent a lot of the topics are, I think there is real value there within sociology.

Guns, Germs and Steel is basically an overly simplified answer to a very complex and multidimensional question, but it's still a very fun idea to explore when you read it. Most people in the social sciences have heard of this book, and with it most people have also heard a lot of criticism.

The Shopkeeper's Millennium is probably the "best" of the four, as it often used as a "benchmark" for many sociology students on how historical research is conducted and used to present a study. The book is old, but it's still taught at many colleges to this day.

Based on your request, I think the Milgram book would be the most interesting for you to start with. Simply put the purpose of the study was to see if there is a correlation between obedience and the presence of authority.

I've also read a few books on poverty and unemployment in the Black and Latino communities. If that sounds interesting, let me know and I'll see if I can dig up some titles and names for you.

EDIT: Fixed some words.