MixedThe Wall Street JournalThe author bases his narrative on mounds of academic histories of the Great Awakening and blends those scholarly sources into a readable account of the Awakening’s turbulent effects on the eve of the American Revolution. Scholars reading the book will know immediately where he’s getting much of his information before they even look at Mr. Dickey’s copious endnotes; the notes even include brief historiographical narratives about the sources on each topic covered ... Mr. Dickey doesn’t break much new ground from a specialist’s perspective, but he packages the academic literature into a sprightly, engaging narrative. It’s as if a gifted history doctoral student finished taking a class on the Great Awakening and went on a leave of absence to write a popular book on what he learned. Indeed, if I had to recommend one introductory book on the Great Awakening, this might be it ... did the Great Awakening cause the Revolution? Mr. Dickey struggles, as Heimert did, to establish a direct connection.