Events

In his new work, Kelly explores the spiritual and political upheavals along this "psychic highway" from its opening in 1825 through 1844. From "Wage slave" Sam Patch who became America's first celebrity daredevil to William Miller, the man who envisioned the apocalypse. The book also explores the life of farm boy Joseph Smith and his coming to give birth to Mormonism, a new and distinctly American religion. Along the way, the reader encounters America's very first "crime of the century," treasure hunting, searing acts of violence, a visionary cross-dresser, and a panoply of fanatics, mystics, and hoaxers.
A page-turning narrative, Heaven's Ditch offers an excitingly fresh look at a heady, foundational moment in American history.
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Jack Kelly is a journalist, novelist, and historian, whose books include Band of Giants, which received the DAR's History Award Medal, as well as Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards, and Pyrotechnics : The History of the Explosive That Changed the World. He has contributed to national periodicals including The Wall Street Journal and is a New York Foundation for the Arts fellow. Mr. Kelly has appeared on The History Channel and interviewed on National Public Radio. He grew up in a town in the canal corridor adjacent to Palmyra, Joseph Smith's home. He currently lives in New York's Hudson Valley.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/jackkelly