Book excerpt: A concise and informative guide to one of the most significant streams of Protestant Christianity in America. More than 375 entries cover the ideas, events, people, movements, practices, institutions, and denominations that have made up this tradition from the earliest days to the present. Under the guidance of editors D. G. Hart and Mark A. Noll, more than 140 contributors have made this reference work an indispensable tool for students and professors. Among the contributing historians are Randall Balmer, Joel Carpenter, Lyle Dorsett, Allen Guelzo, Charles Hambrick-Stowe, Keith Hardman, John Leith, George Marsden, Garth Rosell, Bruce Shelley, Douglas Sweeny, Robert Swierenga, and Ruth Tucker.