Haller (history and medical humanities, Southern Illinois U.) presents a history of "New Thought," from colonial days to the present, which attends to its relationship with scientific discourse and worldly "success." He explores the early foundations of New Thought in a rejection of pessimistic Calvinism in favor of self-directed theologies of emotion and intuition that tried to revive a spiritual core to Christianity that was hopeful of over-coming the "failings" of materiality. These traditions are grounded in Christianity and so East Asian religions in the west only figure as influences rather than developments. While he finds these traditions start out in earnest, they develop into various forms of spiritual hucksterism in the 20th century. To this end he considers the rise of Oprah, positive psychology's assault on the failings of market society, and alternative forms of medicine. Since he focuses on ideas more than historical actors, two appendices list organizations and individuals affiliated with New Thought. This text is published by Swedenborg Foundation Press. Emmanuel Swedenborg is a prominent figure in this history. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)