Mystics and messiahs cults and new religions in American history - Jenkins, Philip (Oxford University Press, 2000)
Includes bibliographical references (pages 241-281) and index
Overrun with Messiahs -- False prophets and deluded subjects: the nineteenth century -- Anti-Christian cults?: The Christian sects, 1890-1930 -- The first new age -- Black gods -- The cult racket: anticult campaigns, 1920-1940 -- The purge of the forties -- The new boom, 1960-1980 -- Cult wars, 1969-1985 -- Devil cults and doomsday cults, 1980-2000 -- Teeming with faith
In this full-length account of cults and anti-cult scares in American history, Jenkins gives accurate historical perspective and shows how many of today's mainstream religions were originally regarded as cults