The American Puritans (Hardcover)

Arranged by Perry Miller in 1956 The American Puritans is a classic collection of Puritan writings. Through a broad but judicious selection of poetry sermons journals and tracts Miller sends the reader on a deep dive into the world of seventeenth-century New England. In this volume one encounters great speeches such as John Winthrop s Model of Christian Charity tender poetry by the likes of Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor and the influential theology of Cotton Mather and many others. Miller s scholarship is thorough and insightful and a love for his subject matter shines throughout these pages. Far from promoting the common caricatures one finds in many studies of the Puritans Miller presents them in a nuanced and charitable light; sometimes as stern reformers but also as thoughtful and sensitive poets preachers and vintage Americans.