It is both a riveting portrait of
an abundantly human man and a vivid evocation of his time, much of it drawn from an outstanding collection of Adams family letters and diaries.
Involvement in the multitudinous problems of a rapidly expanding urban area or exposure to the increasingly bitter struggle between labor and management or entanglement in the luxuriant and rank growth so
abundantly fostered by the new wealth of the «gilded age»: these and other factors caused many
men to re-examine their roles as ministers and to seek more effective ways of ministering to the needs of their time.11 Perhaps the most important thing that happened to such
men was that they became aware of the many factors bearing on
human welfare and thus of importance to the Christian gospel.