At the turn of the twentieth century economic development transformed Canada's prairie region, as the region's population exploded due to migration from central and eastern Canada and immigration from Britain, the United States, and Europe. This boom sev

Religion is fundamental to contemporary Puerto Rican society. From the cosmology of the Indigenous Taíno, to the wide range of Judeo-Christian churches and sects, to the practitioners of spiritism, Afro-Caribbean religions, and witchcraft, religious practice in its many forms permeates the lives of most Puerto Ricans. Communities of the Soul illuminates the landscape and history of religion in Puerto Rico from the beliefs and practices of the Taíno to the religious diversity of the present day. Throughout its history, religion in Puerto Rico has braided institutional forms and popular practices, yet has always been a community-based process – made by the people. When the island was under Spanish colonial rule, the formal but weak presence of Catholicism meant that Puerto Ricans cultivated their religious experiences within families and local communities as much as within the structures of the church. These communal practices continued as Puerto Ricans joined Protestant denominations – particularly evangelical Pentecostalism – after the American conquest of the island in 1898. In the second half of the twentieth century, religious diversity increased with the formation of Jewish and Muslim communities, as well as numerous local evangelical congregations. Even as Puerto Rican society becomes more cosmopolitan and diverse, popular devotions and ritualistic practices remain an important part of everyday life. The first synthesis of the religious history of the island, Communities of the Soul is an innovative exploration of religion in Puerto Rico and the beliefs, practices, and diversity of its past and present.

During the 1947 United Nations debate on the future of Palestine, world opinion was powerfully affected by news of the Holocaust and the plight of Jewish refugees, creating a momentary humanitarian advantage that helped mobilize support for the creation of the state of Israel. However, almost as soon as it became clear that the Jews had won their war for independence, anti-Zionists within Christianity reasserted themselves. A pro-Arab bloc of Western missionaries at the World Council of Churches echoed the anti-Zionism that has always characterized those churches which today constitute the Middle East Council of Churches, while the Roman Catholic Church, never friendly to Zionism, advocated the "internationalization" of Jerusalem to diminish the Jewish presence in the heart of the Holy Land. Mainstream Protestantism championed "Palestinian nationalism," and still does not hesitate to portray Israel as an "oppressor," but most evangelical Christians see Israel's restoration as a part of God's plan. In Christian Attitudes towards the State of Israel Paul Merkley demonstrates that polarized opinion continues to affect how Israel is perceived today.

To achieve this Richard Vaudry traces the migration of both English and Irish Protestants and examines the careers of various prominent Quebec Anglicans, including Jacob, Eliza, and George Mountain, Jasper Hume Nicolls, Henry Roe, Jonathan and Edmund Willoughby Sewell, and finally Jeffrey Hale - families with impeccable imperial credentials. By stressing the importance of an imperial, transatlantic culture, Vaudry offers a fresh and innovative look at the history of the Anglican church in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Quebec.

Tensions between Protestantism and Catholicism dominated politics in nineteenth-century Canada, occasionally erupting into violence. While some liberal politicians and community leaders believed that equal treatment of Protestants and Catholics would defuse these ancient quarrels, other Protestant liberals perceived a battle for the soul of the nation. Protestant Liberty offers a new interpretation of nineteenth-century liberalism by re-examining the role of religion in Canadian politics. While this era’s liberal thought is often characterized as being neutral toward religion, James Forbes argues that the origins of Canadian liberalism were firmly rooted in the British tradition of Protestantism and were based on the premise of guarding against the advance of supposedly illiberal faiths, especially Catholicism. After the union of Upper Canada with predominantly French-Catholic Lower Canada in 1840, this Protestant ideal of liberty came into conflict with a more neutral alternative that sought to strip liberalism of its religious associations in order to appeal to Catholic voters and allies. In a decisive break from their Protestant heritage, these liberals redefined their ideology in secular-materialist terms by emphasizing free trade and private property over faith and culture. In tracing how the Confederation generation competed to establish a unifying vision for the nation, Protestant Liberty reveals religion and religious differences at the centre of this story.

The idea of Canada as a consumer society was largely absent before 1890 but familiar by the mid-1960s. This change required more than rising incomes and greater impulses to buy; it involved the creation of new concepts. Buying Happiness explores the ways public thinkers represented, conceptualized, and institutionalized new ideas about consumption and consumer behaviours. Topics include the state’s creation of the first cost-of-living index in 1914–15, the development of consumer consciousness during the Depression, and the ways in which popular magazines encouraged an ethic of cautious consumerism in the postwar period. Bettina Liverant’s fresh approach connects changes in consumer consciousness with changes in the economy and behaviour. As the figure of “the consumer” moved from the margins to the centre of social, cultural, and political analysis, the values and concepts associated with consumerism were woven into the Canadian social imagination.

In 1790, the French revolutionary government reformed the Catholic Church and demanded that clerics swear an oath of allegiance to the nation and its vision for French Catholicism. Although half of France's parish clergy refused to accept the state-sponsored reforms, others became embroiled in this decade-long ecclesiastical experiment. This included Jean-Baptiste Volfius, a patriot, priest, and professor who embraced the changes in France and believed in the revolution's potential to create a purer church. Patriot and Priest presents a social and intellectual history of the French constitutional church in the Côte-d'Or and the career of Volfius, who became its bishop in 1791, as he struggled to create and run the church. Annette Chapman-Adisho addresses the daily experience of the constitutional clergy over the course of ten years, exploring the interactions between priests and local and national authorities, the response of the laity to the divisions in the French Catholic Church, the evolution of these issues over time, and the eventual reconciliation of the clergy following the Napoleonic Concordat with Pope Pius VII in 1801. Using a rich collection of archival sources, this book demonstrates that although the constitutional church was ultimately a failed project, its legacy had a lasting impact on the catholic Church in France. Tracing the social, political, and theological history of this reform effort, Patriot and Priest offers new insights into the French Revolution and its impact on French Catholicism.