At the same time political activism was growing and breaking out into a war that would create the United States, says Walters (philosophy, Gettysburg College), there was also a revolution in religious and ethical thought that challenged Christian orthodoxy and changed how American theologians and the public would forever think about religion. He does not attempt a systematic history of American deism, but teases out its essential worldview by looking at the thought of its primary champions: Benjamin Franklin, Ethan Allen, Thomas Jefferson, Tom Paine, Eliho Palmer, and Philip Freneau. A chapter is devoted to each, between discussions of the movement's origin and context, and its decline and fall early in the 19th century. The first edition (no date or publisher cited) was titled Rational Infidels. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)