American Priestess: The Extraordinary Story of Anna Spafford and the American Colony in Jerusalem. Jane Fletcher Geniesse

American Priestess: The Extraordinary Story of Anna Spafford and the American Colony in Jerusalem



Download American Priestess: The Extraordinary Story of Anna Spafford and the American Colony in Jerusalem



American Priestess: The Extraordinary Story of Anna Spafford and the American Colony in Jerusalem Jane Fletcher Geniesse ebook
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Page: 416
ISBN: 9780307277725


For generations in Jerusalem, a fabled mansion has been the retreat for foreign correspondents, diplomats, pilgrims and spies–but until now, few have known the true story of the house that became the American Colony Hotel or its bizarre history of tragedy, religious extremism, emotional blackmail, and peculiar sexual practices. During the boom years following the Civil War, in the country’s heartland capital, Chicago, a prominent lawyer Horatio Spafford and his blue-eyed wife Anna rode the mighty wave of Protestant evangelicalism deluging the nation. When suddenly tragedy struck, the charismatic Spaffords, grieving, attracted followers eager to believe their prophecy that the Second Coming was at hand and in 1881 sailed with them to Jerusalem to see the Messiah alight on the Mount of Olives. No sooner had they settled into the Holy City than the U. S. Consul and the established Christian missionaries declared them heretics and whispered of sexual deviance. Yet Muslims and Jews admired their unflagging care of the sick and the needy, and Jews were intrigued with their advocacy of a Jewish Return to Zion. When Horatio died, Anna assumed leadership, shocking even her adherents by abolishing marriage and established a dictatorship that was not always benevolent. Ever dogged by controversy, she and her credulous followers lived through and closely participated in the titanic upheavals that eventually formed the modern Middle East. Written with flair and insight, American Priestess provides a fascinating exploration of the seductive power of evangelicalism and raises questions about the manipulation of religion to serve personal goals. A powerful narrative, the story sweeps through the dramatic collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the establishment of the British Mandate, and finally the founding of Israel where Anna’s house in East Jerusalem, now the American Colony Hotel, stands as an exemplar of beauty and comfort, despite its turbulent history.

MORE EBOOKS:
Twelve Step Christianity: The Christian Roots and Application of the Twelve Steps download ebook







Tags: American Priestess: The Extraordinary Story of Anna Spafford and the American Colony in Jerusalem ebook pdf djvu epub
American Priestess: The Extraordinary Story of Anna Spafford and the American Colony in Jerusalem download pdf epub djvu
Download American Priestess: The Extraordinary Story of Anna Spafford and the American Colony in Jerusalem free ebook pdf
Read American Priestess: The Extraordinary Story of Anna Spafford and the American Colony in Jerusalem online book
American Priestess: The Extraordinary Story of Anna Spafford and the American Colony in Jerusalem cheap ebook for kindle and nook
American Priestess: The Extraordinary Story of Anna Spafford and the American Colony in Jerusalem download book
Jane Fletcher Geniesse ebooks
American Priestess: The Extraordinary Story of Anna Spafford and the American Colony in Jerusalem download pdf rapidshare mediafire fileserve 4shared torrent