The Puritan Experiment: New England Society from Bradford to Edwards (Library of New England)

Bremer tackled a lot in his examination of the internal and external factors that shaped the Bible commonwealths, as well as the legacy they left behind. This is not an easy topic to carry, because it takes a lot of insight into and practical knowledge of Protestantism to get accurately depict and explain Puritan thinking and living during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Fortunately, Bremer seems to have that. Moreover, he successfully pulls off a review of a long period of history without making his chronicle disjointed or leaving the reader confused about the causes of important philosophical, political, and ecclesiastical transitions. More importantly, he doesn't get bogged down in nominal events or figures in Puritan society. Bremer sticks to the major themes, characters, and events in the movement and explains them in depth.I have only a couple of critiques. At times, Bremer does not provide enough analysis on major events towards the end of the book, like his chapter on the influence of the Enlightenment. Also, he sometimes sums up chapters to fast after introducing a lot figures and events. In addition, Bremer does not necessarily chronicle the Puritan movement in sequential order; He jumps around a lot, which at rare moments, is confusing. Lastly, I feel as if Bremer somewhat trivializes the influence that Protestantism, more specifically Calvinism, had on the Enlightenment by choosing to conclude his book by focusing only on the Enlightenment's influence on Puritan society without coming full circle to get at its deeper roots. I feel like he makes it seems as if the Enlightenment was a secular movement that had the profound effect of further liberalizing Puritan society. This is one of a handful of instances where I think Bremer puts a modern spin or modern liberal, political tilt to the development of Puritan society and the legacy it would leave for the founding fathers. However, Bremer's survey of the era does not go so far as to address in detail the Puritan legacy, so this comment is more my perception as to where his synthesis was developing.This book is a must read for anyone looking to really get a clear view of what Puritan life was like, its purpose, and its failures. Certainly, this book is well written and easy to read, and I would say it is the best way to go for a first read into the subject.

This is a very successful attempt to produce an overview of the Puritan experience in New England. Arguably the most important single group on American history, this relatively small collection of religously inspired immigrants generated a number of cultural and political trends that continue as important features of American life. Bremer provides the basic narrative structure, social and demographic history, and theological history of the Puritan experiment in a concise and well written book of less than 250 pages. Readers will be struck with how features of the Puritan experience continue to resonate today, particularly certain aspects of the Puritan religous experience. Also impressive is how aspects of Puritan history in the 17th century prefigured events of the later 18th century. The New England colonies' conflicts with the centralizing tendency of the later Stuart kings, the resentment towards imperialistic economic policies, the emphasis on relatively broad political participation, all have important parallels in the struggles that lead up to the Revolution. Not surprisingly, religion occupies a central place in this book. Bremer does a particularly good job of describing the Puritans' sense of themselves as a chosen people, their involvement in a trans-Atlantic religous culture, and their complex theology. Perhaps the only deficiency, and this is relatively minor, is Bremer's less thorough treatment of the 18th century. While the narrative continues up to the death of Jonathan Edwards in 1758, the treatment of the 18th century is more superficial than of the 17th century. This is probably an understandable result of Bremer's desire to keep this book concise. There is also a very nice annotated bibliography. In using the latter, readers should bear in mind that this edition was published in 1995 and there have been important works published since 1995. There is no reference, for example, to George Marsden's outstanding biography of Jonathan Edwards, which was published last year. Overall, this is a very valuable distillation of the broad and impressive body of scholarship concerning these fascinating people.

I felt this book was a great introduction to American Puritanism and American culture in general. At times it got a little bogged down in the names and people - a bit more than I cared for - but not terribly so. It is, after-all, a history book; its goal is to inform, not to entertain. However, the author is surprisingly engaging and the content is well structured. This is defiantly something that will stay on my shelves and I will always recommend it to anyone who shows any interest in Puritanism, religion or early America.

Excellent!

The Puritans are often maligned today as a 'narrow minded' 'intolerant' group of religious 'extremists' who hanged people they believed to be Witches and actually banned ChristmasThis book shows them in a more honest light. A people who as a group did their flawed best to form a just and honest society. They actually managed to achieve it.This is the story of the people whose ideology actually became the foundation of this nation.Easy to read. The material is easy to understand. A good book to have for anyone interested in Colonial American history or for that matter insights into how groups work.

Excellent, detailed and wide ranging exploration of the so-called 'Bible Commonwealths' established in New England in the 17th century. Fairly academic in focus (but that is no criticism).

Good product, Good price, fast delivery. very pleased