An accurate, sympathetic account of influential colonial Christian leader Cotton Mather (1663-1728), who was America's most famous pastor and scholar in the early eighteenth century. He is generally associated with the infamous Salem witch trials, but in this new biography Rick Kennedy makes it evident that Mather was the very first American evangelical. A fresh retelling of Cotton Mather's life, this biography corrects misconceptions and focuses on how he sought to promote a biblical lifestyle. As Puritanism in New England was giving way to a broader and shallower Protestantism, Mather led a populist, Bible-oriented movement - the beginning of a dynamic evangelical tradition that eventually became a major force in American culture. Incorporating the latest scholarly research but written for a popular audience, this book brings Cotton Mather and his world to life in a way that helps readers understand both the Puritanism in which he grew up and the evangelicalism he pioneered.