Link , Link , Link , Link , Link , Link , Link , Link , Link , Link , Link , Link , Link , ["It’s no secret that America was founded by a cult of radical religious extremists—at least from the point of view of the Church of England that had rejected them. But the influence of theocratic, utopian ideals and the eccentric, not to say cranky individuals who held them, on subsequent American society and politics, has not been as generally acknowledged. Adam Morris’ American Messiahs makes up for this lacunae admirably. From Father Divine and the Walla Walla Jesus, to the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing and the horror of Jonestown, Morris charts the remarkable careers and often mad ideas of the men and women who were accepted as agents of the holy and who claimed for themselves the unique status as voices of God. Anyone interested in the disturbing cocktail of politics and religion intoxicating many today, should read this compelling and insightful account of how that same beverage turned quite a few heads in the past."]