This is an unsettling account of the events, ideas and minds behind the nameless political movement that governs America today. The movement transcends political parties, has no formal structure, no acknowledged leaders and no sworn loyalty except to God, whose will it interprets according to its fears and desires. Yet it is not an abstraction. It elects American presidents and legislatures and informs their decisions while in office.The movement started at the end of Second World War when the fear of mass death infected American views of justice, ethics and global politics. As conversations with religious and political leaders, churchgoers and pollsters make clear, after 9/11 the American nation became increasingly pessimistic. Americans more than ever embraced simplistic, self-serving solutions to questions of personal and national destiny.This book is a first step towards understanding the American religious right as a national political movement.