The Bishop Hill Colony: A religious communistic settlement in Henry County, Illinois, [Unknown Binding]

Michael Andrew Mikkelsen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1973

This book is a facsimile reprint and may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Unknown Binding
• Publisher: Johnson Reprint Corp (1973)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0384388507
• ISBN-13: 978-0384388505
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,947,527 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good, if somewhat biased look, July 2, 2001

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Bishop Hill Colony: A religious communistic settlement in Henry County, Illinois,

In 1843, Sweden witnessed the advent of a new religious leader, Eric Janson. Identifying himself as a new prophet, Janson led many people away from the established Lutheran Church. Coming under persecution from the authorities, Janson and some 1,100 followers emigrated to the United States, and founded Bishop Hill, a religious commune on the prairies of Illinois. This is the story of Eric Janson, and the rise and fall of Bishop Hill.

Eric Janson led the first mass exodus of Swedes to North America, and is a subject worth studying. In this short work (some 60 pages), Michael Mikkelsen writes a not entirely dispassionate look into this subject. His book is highly favorable of Eric Janson, and hostile to the Swedish Lutheran Church. Though this book is light on details, I still recommend it.

I was lucky enough to obtain the 1972 Porcupine Press version, which included the book, Eric Janson and the Bishop Hill Colony by Sivert Erdahl. This book (some 70 pages) is much better than Mikkelsen's, heavy on the details Mikkelsen missed, and worthy of five stars. Erdahl quotes from a number of primary sources, including the writings of Eric Janson himself to give a clear and unbiased look at Eric Janson and Bishop Hill.

If you are interested in Eric Janson and/or Bishop Hill, then I recommend this book to you. If you can obtain the Porcupine Press version, though, then you are obtaining a read gem!