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In Republican Gomorrah, Max Blumenthal traces the history of the rise of the Christian Right and its take over of the Republican Party. This is a process which began in the 1950s as an outgrowth of McCarthyism and intensified in reaction to the civil rights movement, anti-Vietnam protests, and other aspects of the 1960s. It first gained real power during the 1980s and finally achieved total dominance within the GOP during the 1990s and in the George W. Bush Administration. Blumenthal has done an impressive amount of meticulously documented research and has unearthed much new information. He identifies Francis Schaeffer as the original source of much of the philosophy behind the Family (as the movement is known among its adherents), and recognizes the heavy influence of James Dobson, Rousas John Rushdoony, and Howard F. Ahmanson in its propagation. As the Family has gained power it has attracted politicians like Tom DeLay and Ralph Reed until, in the 2008 election, it was actually able to dictate the choice of a supremely unqualified candidate as the Republican vice-presidential nominee. This book intrigued me on several levels. As a white Southern male in my early 50s, I have witnessed much of the Family's rise. I remember Francis Schaeffer being avidly discussed among young conservatives at my college during the 1970s, and recall the very heavy handed Republican efforts to co-opt the votes of people like me which began in 1980 and have continued to the present. I resented then and still resent today their assumption that my heritage and my faith would incline me to vote for their bigoted and racist platform, and feel deeply ashamed that so many who have a similar background to mine could be manipulated into giving them their support. The chapters dealing with Christian Reconstructionism and Dominionism are excellent guides for understanding those movements and their connections to the GOP. I also found the chapters detailing the hypocrisy and financial and/or sexual pecadillos of these men and women who claim to be doing the Lord's work highly interesting, if sometimes sickening. It would be all too easy to sneer at such churlishness and dismiss it out of hand, but that would be a mistake. With our country so deeply divided, and with civilized debate and rational discourse rapidly disappearing, books like Republican Gomorrah make invaluable reading to those of us who are dumbfounded by the profound ignorance now so much on display in town hall meetings, "tea parties", and most unfortunately in Congress itself. Republican Gomorrah reveals the mechanisms by which so many honorable religious Americans have been woefully and deliberately misinformed and manipulated into supporting cynical politicians who care nothing for true faith and values. Americans who are truly concerned for the future of our country need to read Republican Gomorrah and be aware that the Republic has much to fear from those who wrap themselves in the flag and wave the Bible in the air.