Saving History
How White Evangelicals Tour the Nation's Capital and Redeem a Christian America

Lauren R. Kerby (Author)

9781469658773

Paperback / softback, published 13 April 2020

208 pages, 17 halftones
23.3 x 15.4 x 1.5 cm, 0.333 kg

[An] excellent debut. . . . Thoughtfully documenting and reflecting upon the contours of a uniquely American subculture, this ethnographic study will appeal to anyone interested in the pull of American Christian nationalism.--Publishers Weekly, starred review

Kerby's writing is clear and crisp, resulting in an exceptionally smooth read that is full of revealing insights. . . . Saving History is an enriching read with much to offer about the cultural reproduction of white Protestant fundamentalism and Christian nationalism.--Material Religion

Millions of tourists visit Washington, D.C., every year, but for some the experience is about much more than sightseeing. Lauren R. Kerby's lively, engaging book takes readers onto tour buses and explores the world of Christian heritage tourism. These expeditions visit the same attractions as their secular counterparts-Capitol Hill, the Washington Monument, the war memorials, and much more-but the white evangelicals who flock to the tours are searching for evidence that America was founded as a Christian nation.

The tours preach a historical jeremiad that resonates far beyond Washington. White evangelicals across the United States tell stories of the nation's Christian origins, its subsequent fall into moral and spiritual corruption, and its need for repentance and return to founding principles. This vision of American history, Kerby finds, is white evangelicals' most powerful political resource-it allows them to shapeshift between the roles of faithful patriots and persecuted outsiders. In an era when white evangelicals' political commitments baffle many observers, this book offers a key for understanding how they continually reimagine the American story and their own place in it.