Overview

When American Methodist preachers first arrived in Upper Canada in the 1790s, they brought with them more than an alluring religious faith. They also brought saddlebags stuffed with books published by the New York Methodist Book Concern North America's first denominational publisher to sell along their preaching circuits. Pulpit, Press, and Politics traces the expansion of this remarkable transnational market from its earliest days to the mid-nineteenth century, a period of intense religious struggle in Upper Canada marked by fiery revivals, political betrayals, and bitter church schisms. The Methodist Book Concern occupied a central place in all this conflict as it powerfully shaped and subverted the religious and political identities of Canadian Methodists, particularly in the wake of the American Revolution. The Concern bankrolled the bulk of Canadian Methodist preaching and missionary activities, enabled and constrained evangelistic efforts among the colony's Native groups, and clouded Methodist dealings with the British Wesleyans and other religious competitors north of the border. Even more importantly, as Methodists went on to assume a preeminent place in Upper Canada's religious, cultural, and educational life, their ongoing reliance on the Methodist Book Concern played a crucial role in opening the way for the lasting acceptance and widespread use of American books and periodicals across the region.

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9781442649231

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Reviews

Through an innovative emphasis on print culture, Pulpit, Press, and Politics demonstrates that American influences had a far more substantial and enduring impact on the history of Upper Canadian Methodism than scholars have previously acknowledged. Scott McLaren is to be commended for his contribution to the study of this particular denomination and, indeed, the larger Protestant tradition of which it is an important part. -- Denis McKim * <em>Canadian Historical Review</em> *

Through an innovative emphasis on print culture, Pulpit, Press, and Politics demonstrates that American influences had a far more substantial and enduring impact on the history of Upper Canadian Methodism than scholars have previously acknowledged. Scott McLaren is to be commended for his contribution to the study of this particular denomination and, indeed, the larger Protestant tradition of which it is an important part. -- Denis McKim * <em>Canadian Historical Review</em> * Scott McLaren's well-researched monograph once again illustrates how much genuine insight Canada's religious history can deliver for historians of the United States, even as the book also clarifies long-standing debates about the Canadian past. -- Mark A. Noll, University of Notre Dame * <em>Church History </em> * Scott McLaren's ability to make sense of this very particular time, place, and ethos-essentially the roots of publishing in English Canada-is impressive. The tangle of commercial, nationalist, and denominational concerns that surrounded Egerton Ryerson, the Christian Guardian (Upper Canada's leading newspaper), and the book business that emerged forms a plot as full of intrigue, drama, and betrayal as any great Russian novel. -- Ruth Bradley-St-Cyr * <em>Canadian Literature</em> *

“Through an innovative emphasis on print culture, Pulpit, Press, and Politics demonstrates that American influences had a far more substantial and enduring impact on the history of Upper Canadian Methodism than scholars have previously acknowledged. Scott McLaren is to be commended for his contribution to the study of this particular denomination and, indeed, the larger Protestant tradition of which it is an important part.” -- Denis McKim * <em>Canadian Historical Review</em> * ""Scott McLaren’s well-researched monograph once again illustrates how much genuine insight Canada’s religious history can deliver for historians of the United States, even as the book also clarifies long-standing debates about the Canadian past."" -- Mark A. Noll, University of Notre Dame * <em>Church History </em> * ""Scott McLaren’s ability to make sense of this very particular time, place, and ethos—essentially the roots of publishing in English Canada—is impressive. The tangle of commercial, nationalist, and denominational concerns that surrounded Egerton Ryerson, the Christian Guardian (Upper Canada’s leading newspaper), and the book business that emerged forms a plot as full of intrigue, drama, and betrayal as any great Russian novel."" -- Ruth Bradley-St-Cyr * <em>Canadian Literature</em> *

Author Information

Scott McLaren is a faculty member in the graduate programs in Humanities and History and an associate librarian at York University.

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