Towards the end of this book Wadkins states that his study ‘has focused on patterns of modernisation that have taken place in El Salvador … and the ways in which Spirit-filled Christianity has been impacted by and has impacted these patterns’ (p. 187). Although not primarily an historical study, this is, for several reasons, a refreshingly honest book on Latin American Pentecostalism. Firstly, it has been thoroughly researched and vividly written, so that the author can give meticulous detail of his first-hand knowledge of the subject. Secondly, the study is grounded in thorough familiarity with the wider background of Pentecostalism across the globe within which it is situated, and includes a perceptive outline of its history. Thirdly, it is also a microstudy of a relatively small Latin American country, El Salvador, and relies on both personal ethnographic observation and archival research for its findings. The microstudy provides profound insights into Pentecostalism throughout Latin America and elsewhere. Finally, unlike some studies that tend to focus on a church or churches in isolation from the wider context, this book places the Salvadoran movement firmly within its historical, social and political moorings, allowing for rich nuances and thick descriptions that make for informative reading. The study is complete with thirty-three pages of useful data arising from the author's fieldwork. The author's background as director of the Institute for the Global Study of Religion at Canisius College, Buffalo, New York, a Jesuit, Catholic university, gives him a unique perspective. He has worked and done research in El Salvador for over a decade, particularly focusing on the aftermath of the Salvadoran civil war (1980–92) and its effect on society and Church. His detailed, almost insider knowledge of worldwide Pentecostalism is remarkable and perceptive.

Wadkins begins by tracing the background to his study and the dramatic growth of Pentecostalism in El Salvador, a movement that after only a century is now conservatively estimated at comprising 35 per cent of the population. This growth reflects the expansion of Christianity throughout the global South during the twentieth century and its corresponding decline in the North. Two enormous megachurches, Tabernáculo Bíblico Bautista (with an American Baptist background which does not identify as Pentecostal) and Misión Cristiana Elim (which does, with origins in neighbouring Guatemala), are briefly described, but these Churches with thousands of members are the tip of the iceberg, with many thousands of small Pentecostal churches scattered throughout the country, and a large growing Catholic Charismatic movement. Wadkins discusses Pentecostalism as a religion for the poor – or as he puts it in the title of the second chapter, instead of Liberation Theology's ‘preferential option for the poor’, which largely failed to connect with the people whom it was supposed to help, the poor had ‘The Preferential Option for the Spirit’. The rise of Pentecostalism is explained with reference to the secularisation/modernisation debates and the transformation that took place in Salvadoran society during the twentieth century. The history of the civil war and its effects on society receives special treatment; and the post-war period results in the creation of a ‘New World Order’ – the title of chapter iii. The following chapter traces the history of Protestantism and Pentecostalism in El Salvador from the late nineteenth century to the present, including the many schisms from some of the American missionary-founded denominations such as the Assemblies of God and the Church of God. How Pentecostalism affected individuals is illustrated by numerous case studies throughout the book.

Although Wadkins points out that external social action is rare in Pentecostal Churches, the numerous small Pentecostal congregations scattered throughout the country have a transformative effect on the social lives of their members. Chapter vi, ‘Consuming the world’, traces the rise of a new consumer-oriented, entrepreneurial Pentecostalism in recent years, with two megachurches, both commencing in 2000, as examples. The next chapter discusses Pentecostalism and social ethics, revealing the growth of a socially-conscious Pentecostal leadership in Latin America, with specific examples from El Salvador – albeit these voices for social change tend to remain on the periphery. Chapter viii, ‘Managing the Spirit’, is about the Catholic Charismatic movement in El Salvador, representing 15–20 per cent of the Catholic population, and how it was gradually brought under the control of the church hierarchy. This is an important movement present throughout Latin America that has to some extent contained the haemorrhaging of Catholics into Pentecostal churches.

Wadkins ends by discussing his central theme – the relationship of Pentecostalism to modernisation and its ability to sustain and provide meaning for people in a new modern Salvadoran society. He points out that the ‘age of the Spirit’ is a phenomenon all over the global South, and that his study of El Salvador is a leading example of what is happening elsewhere. This book is commended as outstanding not only for its deep insights into Salvadoran Christianity, but because of its sympathetic yet critical perspective on Pentecostalism globally.