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National Book Foundation > Author > John Demos
John Demos is the Samuel Knight Professor Emeritus of History at Yale University. His previous books include The Unredeemed Captive, which won the Francis Parkman Prize and was a Finalist for the National Book Award, and Entertaining Satan, which won the Bancroft Prize. He lives in Tyringham, Massachusetts. More about this author >
Near the start of the nineteenth century, as the newly established United States looked outward toward the wider world, a group of eminent Protestant ministers formed a grand scheme for gathering the rest of mankind into the redemptive fold of Christianity and “civilization.” Its core element was a special school for “heathen youth” drawn from all parts of the earth, including the Pacific Islands, China, India, and, increasingly, the native nations of North America. The Heathen School follows the progress, and the demise, of this first true melting pot through the lives of individual students. More about this book >
John Demos is the Samuel Knight Professor Emeritus of History at Yale University. His previous books include The Unredeemed Captive, which won the Francis Parkman Prize and was a Finalist for the National Book Award, and Entertaining Satan, which won the Bancroft Prize. He lives in Tyringham, Massachusetts.