While I enjoyed this book I found myself wishing more of it was as insightful and nuanced as the introduction and epilogue. The body of the work, while informative, didn’t seem interested in analyzing these various American messianic figures or their commonalities, only with reporting their activities and beliefs. I believe this book could have been improved by the addition of even a brief analysis, perhaps at the end of each section, connecting each “messiah” to the larger messianic tradition and delving into the specific conditions that lead to the rise of each figure.