In Inherit the Holy Mountain , historian Mark Stoll introduces us to the religious roots of the American environmental movement. Religion, he shows, provided environmentalists both with deeply-embedded moral and cultural ways of viewing the world and with content, direction, and tone for the causes they espoused. Stoll discovers that specific denominational origins corresponded with characteristic sets of ideas about nature and the environment as well as distinctive aesthetic reactions to nature, as can be seen in key works of art analyzed throughout the book. Stoll also provides insight into the possible future of environmentalism in the United States, concluding with an examination of the current religious scene and what it portends for the future. By debunking the supposed divide between religion and American environmentalism, Inherit the Holy Mountain opens up a fundamentally new narrative in environmental studies. "If the geographic region of focus is the United States, then the book is mandatory. The impressive amount of data covered in its pages, and the cohesive narrative that contextualizes and analyzes this data, cannot be captured in a 1,600-word book review. Scholars owe Stoll a debt of gratitude for the 30 years of dedication to crafting this thorough treatment of the impact religion has had on environmentalism in the US. This gratitude should begin with the assignment of this book in graduate seminars devoted to interactions between religion and nature, where it can provide a shining example of scholarship toward which future leaders of the field should aspire." -- Todd LeVasseur, Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture "Spanning five centuries and encompassing religious and enviromental history with a heavy dose of art history, Inherit the Holy Mountain is the product of extensive research and offers a sweeping cultural reinterpretation of the history of American enviromentalism." -- Luke Manget, Agricultural History "He has painted such a rich description of religion in the lives and ideas of American environmentalists that readers will be struck by new insights and want more information about interactions between religion and environmental history. One need not agree with all of his conclusions to appreciate the quality of his research and be excited about the scholarship it will inspire as others respond to his ideas." -- Religion "[An] insightful religious history of environmentalism." -- Vincent J. Miller , America Magazine "It provides a detailed and fascinating genealogical analysis of the religious origins of American environmentalism. This is an impressive, provocative work of synthesis and original scholarship that enriches greatly our understanding of the history of the American environmental movement by placing religion at its core." --William Van Arragon, Fides et Historia "Mark has written a book that has the potential to change the way environmentalists think about religion and the way religious people think about environmentalism."--Constance M. Furey, H-Environment "Stoll is on to something. The book's argument is especially convincing in its interpretation up to the twentieth century and through the Progressive Era. Trying to identify religion's ethereal influence on human events is often a difficult task, and evidentiary smoking guns can be rare. Yet Stoll convinces through scrupulous interpretation of a mountain of creatively gathered circumstantial (and stronger) evidence ranging from sermons to his brilliant analysis of Thomas Cole's 1836 painting The Oxbow as a manifestation of Protestant doctrine and Puritan devotional practice affecting Hudson River school artists and their glorification of the environment."--Todd M. Kerstetter, Journal of American History "[T]he religious focus developed in this important work serves to provide new depth and color to a series of portraits of America's environmental founding figures. Its imminent readability and wealth of documentary evidence will make a lasting impression on a wide range of readers."-- Pacific Historical Review "Stoll s book is an important contribution to our understanding of the religious roots of environmentalism and significantly undermines White s thesis by showing that Christianity is not hostile to preserving the environment but rather can form the foundation for a sound environmental ethic."-- The American Historical Review " Inherit the Mountain is a wide-ranging, thorough and wellpresented treatise on the religious roots of American environmentalism... Inherit the Mountain would enhance the general reader's knowledge of environmentalism's historic roots, [and] would serve particularly well as a textbook in undergraduate and graduate courses in religion and ecology."-- Anglican and Episcopal History "In Ecology in the 20th Century: A History (1989) historian Anna Bramwell gave the following short characterization of the (radical) environmentalist: 'As well as being