Anointed with Oil: How Christianity and Crude Made Modern America

When the Eisenhower administration arranged a coup to overthrow Iran's secular prime minister in 1953, it protected British oil reserves and reinforced “a moral alliance between Islam and the Christian West” (pp. 384–85). The “civil religion of crude” was ascendant (p. 12). When the Trump administration assassinated Iranian major general Qasem Soleimani in January 2020, it did so after decades of U.S. wars in the Middle East and anti-Islamic rhetoric at home. Now, “wildcat Christianity” is ascendant (ibid.). Spanning five continents and 150 years, Darren Dochuk's marvelous, jaw-droppingly researched, and engaging new book introduces a new framework for modern U.S. history in which “the dual authority of oil and religion rests at the heart of America's modern moment” (p. 15). Yet this is no singular narrative. Instead, rival spirits of Christian capitalism vie for power and set the terms of the possible. John D. Rockefeller represents major oil...