In this lively book, David D. Grafton introduces three nineteenth-century writers – the missionaries Eli Smith and William McClure Thomson, and the biblical scholar, Edward Robinson – who shaped how U.S. readers imagined the Bible Lands and the 'American Protestant place in the world.' By presenting Middle Eastern people as if they were latter-day biblical characters, Grafton argues, this trio projected fantasies which fueled ideas about American exceptionalism and exerted a dangerous, long-term impact on U.S.–Middle Eastern relations. At the same time, they inspired American evangelicals in ways that remain visible until today. Subtly analyzed, yet written in a bold style, Grafton’s account of what he calls 'American Biblical Orientalism' will draw a wide range of readers and stimulate vivid debate.

Heather J. Sharkey, University of Pennsylvania

Aptly titled An American Biblical Orientalism, Grafton’s fascinating book brings together the study of American missions in the Middle East, the history of Biblical interpretation in the United States, and critiques of orientalism. This book sheds new light on a remarkable moment in the nineteenth century when Americans came into close contact with the modern Arab world and yet imagined it to be the ancient, unchanging land of the Bible. This is orientalism with a Biblical twist, fed by American Biblical scholarship and popular accounts of Holy Land tourism. Even missionaries who engaged deeply with the people of the Middle East did not change the imaginings of American Bible readers. Grafton’s study will benefit scholars and students alike, for we cannot understand U.S. religious history or American–Arab relations today without also understanding American Biblical Orientalism.

Deanna Ferree Womack, Emory University

An American Biblical Orientalism offers a rich and extensive exploration of nineteenth-century Evangelical responses to and representations of the people of Ottoman Palestine. This is the most substantial consideration to date of two highly influential nineteenth-century figures: William M. Thomson, the missionary to Syria from the United States who wrote the bestselling The Land and the Book, and Edward Robinson, the archaeologist who wrote Biblical Researches in Palestine. Grafton's exploration of these figures offers important insights into Christian-Muslim relations in both the nineteenth-century United States and our own time, and this book is a significant contribution to the growing literature on American Holy Land writing.

Brian Yothers, University of Texas at El Paso