This is a meticulously researched study of American religion through the lens of the Old North-West, the ‘pioneer’ territory of the United States that, bordered by the Mississippi (to the west) and the Ohio River (to the south), includes present-day Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. Between 1790 and 1850, thousands of immigrants settled in the region, reshaping the landscape through new social, literary and political practices. Kissel's study, rooted in extensive archival research from historical societies, libraries and university centres in these ‘Midwestern’ states, provides a compelling narrative for the many ways that ‘[o]rganized religion facilitated many of the region's earliest advances in literacy, formal education, civic and moral accountability, charitable public outreach, and social reform’ (p. 2). During this pivotal time, the region shifted from ‘territories of evolving wilderness’ to ‘fully integrated states of the nation’ (p. 3). Among the greatest strengths of this book is the constant sense of place: Kissel uncovers disparate social and religious histories and thoughtfully links them in a coherent, thematic narrative that avoids hasty generalisations. In the first chapter, for example, the religious practices of a Methodist family in Wisconsin – beginning on the Sabbath day by feeding the cattle, followed by family Bible reading and prayer – are brought into a shared conversation with the family and domestic practices of Baptists, Quakers, Presbyterians and even emerging Utopian communities such as Shakers or Mormons. In other chapters, Kissel focuses on the religious aspects of the Midwest's literary boom (ch. ii), formal education (ch. iii), sacred community spaces (ch. iv), civic order (ch. v) and public welfare (ch. vi). Take the rise of Sabbath schools during this period as another case in point. Through an exploration of this widely studied transatlantic movement, Kissel helps readers to discover not only that the Sunday schools were forerunners of public education in America, but also a means whereby diverse denominations won converts, engaged in moral formation and fostered cultural identity (pp. 61–7). In turn, with the establishment of religious colleges and seminaries, the region became a magnet for ecumenically-minded students from many different religious backgrounds. While attempts to convert, educate and otherwise engage American Indians appear throughout, readers will not discover a comparative analysis of indigenous religious beliefs and practices here. Kissel instead focuses on how specific Christian communities emerged in contested spaces and engaged in specific forms of religious discipline and community-building. For example, priests and bishops shaped the spirituality of Roman Catholics in Ohio with regular synods that enforced moral and spiritual norms, while combative Protestants such as the famed Methodist Peter Cartwright responded to one group of unhappy youth who attempted to stone the itinerant preacher's tent (for confiscating their whiskey) by ‘pelting them in turn with a shower of rocks’ (p. 118). Thus, by the end of the period, a distinctly ‘Midwestern’ character of the populace emerged, ‘rooted in rural, middling-class, and Christian values’ (p. 147). Indeed, while the religious character of the region continues to evolve, these religiously inspired traits are ‘characteristics that in many ways continue to define the region today’ (p. 147).