Book excerpt: More than a college or a summer resort or a religious assembly, the Chautauqua movement was a composite of all of these, and for five decades after it began in 1874, Chautauqua dominated adult education and reached millions with its summer assemblies, reading clubs, and traveling circuits. This critical study weaves the threads of Chautauqua into a single story and places it at the vital center of fin de siecle cultural and political history.