About this item
Highlights
- They sought to transform the globe and ended up transforming modern America Between the 1890s and the Vietnam era, many thousands of American Protestant missionaries were sent to live throughout the non-European world.
- About the Author: David A. Hollinger is the Preston Hotchkis Professor of American History Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley.
- 408 Pages
- History, North America
Description
Book Synopsis
They sought to transform the globe and ended up transforming modern America
Between the 1890s and the Vietnam era, many thousands of American Protestant missionaries were sent to live throughout the non-European world. Their experience abroad made many of these missionaries and their children critical of racism, imperialism, and religious orthodoxy. When they returned home, they brought new liberal values back to their own society. David Hollinger reveals the untold story of how these missionary-connected individuals left an enduring mark on American public life as writers, diplomats, academics, church officials, publishers, foundation executives, and social activists. Protestants Abroad reveals the crucial role they played in the development of modern American liberalism, and shows how they helped other Americans reimagine their nation's place in the world.From the Back Cover
"Writing with eloquence and confidence, Hollinger convincingly argues that the Protestant U.S. missionary experience had a surprisingly large and pervasive impact on American culture, politics, and society in the middle decades of the twentieth century. This is a much-needed book, with many masterful insights."--Ian Tyrrell, author of Reforming the World: The Creation of America's Moral Empire
"This learned book redresses a significant gap in the history of religion and U.S. intellectual history. Remarkably researched and beautifully written, Protestants Abroad shows how missionary-connected individuals shaped our understandings of social justice, American power, and domestic politics."--Melani McAlister, author of Epic Encounters: Culture, Media, and U.S. Interests in the Middle East since 1945
Review Quotes
"Co-Winner of the Peter Dobkin Hall History of Philanthropy Book Prize, Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA)"
About the Author
David A. Hollinger is the Preston Hotchkis Professor of American History Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. His many books include After Cloven Tongues of Fire: Protestant Liberalism in Modern American History (Princeton).