Kristin K.Du Mez: Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation. New York: Liveright, 2020; p. 368.

Abstract

growth within the rank of Evangelical clergy, primarily within the Church of England. By 1835, they accounted for approximately one quarter of the clergy serving the Church of England. The author created a database from a survey of 1000 clergy based on a series of Cambridge and Oxford alumni publications (p. 32).The fact the survey includes approximately fifty per cent of the clerical body who could be defined as Evangelical within the Established Church adds to the validity of the findings. This data is further augmented by a breadth of archival material from Christian societies across the British world. A rich vein of publications, including periodicals of Bible societies, memoirs, and biographies, have been explored. Atkin has utilised these sources deftly to demonstrate that the movement was more influential than previously recognised but concedes that there is still much to discover (p. 6).Key case studies include chapters 1, 2, and 3, which explore the patronage networks in the Church and associations of Evangelicals in public life. Chapter 4, 5, and 6 seek to demonstrate how Evangelicals entered the officialdom and institutional Britain and the wider British world particularly using Sierra Leone, the Royal Navy, and East India Company as examples (p. 25).The work traces the ascension of Evangelicals from the fringe of the Church of England to positions of influence within universities; ecclesiastical ranks; the City of London; the imperial government (particularly the Colonial Office); the colonial service in Sierra Leone, India, and Australia; and the armed services. The breadth of Evangelical influence in the British establishment reveals that those who were studied were not just a group of individuals but rather a broad ranging movement gathered together by a central aim of converting the British nation.Converting Britannia successfully elucidates the broad ambitions of Evangelicals to convert Britannia and it provides a roadmap as to how they made significant headway toward achieving this end. The bankers, merchant princes, bishops, members of parliament, aristocrats, and royal dukes featured in the work show the span of the movement and its level of success (pp. 245-246). The way in which Atkin brings these figures to life also make this formidable academic work enjoyable to read. The work was shortlisted for the prestigious Ecclesiastical History Society Book Prize and reflects its valued place within the scholarship. Historians of the period will find it adds value to their library.