Business of the Heart: Religion and Emotion in the Nineteenth Century Hardcover - 2001

The "religious excitement" of 1858 found its way into the press under various headings, including "The Great Revival," "Great Awakening," "Laymen's Revival," "Holiness Revival," "YMCA Revival," "Union Revival," "Laymen's Prayer Revival," "Prayer Meeting Revival," "Revival of 1858," and "Businessmen's Revival."

"Corrigan does much more than research and describe the religious revival of 1857-58. He gives us an imaginative and wide-ranging interpretative study of the revival's significance. He addresses an extraordinary range of phenomena-the turns of the business cycle in the 1850s, the social and ecclesiastical history of Boston, immigration and ethnic history, sex role differentiation, and the vexing problem of why males find it difficult to express their emotions. Altogether, I find this a fascinating, rewarding, and highly original new book."--Daniel Walker Howe, Rhodes Professor of History, Oxford University

"This is an important contribution to American religious and cultural history. Corrigan draws together interpretive angles from social, intellectual, and religious history, as well as from the emergent field of the history of the emotions, in which he is doing path-breaking work."--Peter W. Williams, Distinguished Professor of American Studies and Comparative Religion, Miami University

"John Corrigan's book is a terrific study of religion, emotion and society in the nineteenth century."--Joyce Appleby, Professor of History, University of California at Los Angeles

"What Kuhn did for the history of science, or Geertz for cultural anthropology, Corrigan does for American religious history. He has written a breakthrough book that defines a fresh approach and merits the widest possible audience. His adroit and artful book shows us how to think anew about things prosaic and matters divine by revealing their complex entanglements and mutual transformations. Modernity gains here a compelling and engaging interpreter."--Joel Martin, Rupert Costo Professor of History, University of California, Riverside