I feel that this book was very well organized by the authors and that the sources they used for the books material are plausible and very numerous. The book is organized into four large chapters. In the first half of the book, the first two chapters, the authors tell the life stories of the two most important members of the kingdom of Matthias: Elijah Pierson and Robert Matthews(Matthias himself). These two chapters serve as a good introduction to what the reader later reads about the kingdom itself. The first chapter goes into great detail about Elijah Pierson’s early adult years. It describes him as a very religious man who had hopped successfully on board the trains of the Market and Finneyite revolutions in America. Pierson led a

very prosperous and successful life both religiously and economically after finally marrying and settling down with his wife Sarah. Then when his wife dies his life becomes meaningless to him and he begins to slowly drift into religious insanity, prophesizing things like his wife’s resurrection. This is where the first chapter ends and all about Pierson is moved aside in the second chapter as the authors than do a similar outline on Robert Matthews’s life. In this chapter we learn about Matthews childhood and his early adulthood. Matthews never was able to become successful during these times of religious and economic revolution. This perhaps is the reasoning for the formation of his cult, which is discussed in the third chapter. In this chapter the authors start with the meeting of Elijah and Matthews and than move onto the formation of the kingdom that Matthias creates for himself. Throughout this chapter the many twists and turns in the plot keep the reader as interested as he or she was while reading the first two chapters. Finally, the fourth and final chapter of the book is titled “The Downfall”. As the title suggests, this chapter goes into great detail of how the kingdom of Matthias came to an end and describes the events of the trial that led up to Matthias’s short incarceration. Overall, I feel that the way the book is organized greatly increases the reader’s interest in the subject matter of the book. By learning the background information about the main characters before the real plot even begins gives the reader vital information to understanding the plot of the story and also helps keep the reader anticipating the arrival of the real story. In my opinion, the second half of the story was more interesting than the first, but I am sure that I would not have enjoyed the second half as much if it had not been for the information I learned in the first.

In its entirety, I enjoyed this book very much. I thought it was very well written and I was astonished at the fact that it kept me interested through 179 pages. I feel that the author’s organization contributed greatly to why the reader never looses interest while reading. The major and underlying themes of this book tied in very nicely to what we are learning in class and because of that I was able to understand and enjoy the book a great deal more. Overall, I would have to say it is the best historical novel I ha

Some topics in this essay:
Elijah Matthews, Finneyite America, Robert Matthews, Elijah Pierson’s, Market Revolution, Awakening American, America Pierson, Robert Matthews’s, York City, Sean Wilentz, kingdom matthias, market revolution, book organized, robert matthews, american society, elijah pierson’s, religious beliefs american, fourth chapter, reader reads, throughout novel, american history, elijah pierson robert, feel book organized, chapter goes detail, beliefs american society,