The Angel and the Serpent: The Story of New Harmony

by William E. Wilson

"The Angel and the Serpent is a book which combines scholarship and literary grace, and which recreates for us both the world of the Rappites and the Owenites." --Henry Steele Commager, The New York Times Book Review

Here is the story of George Rapp's German Harmonists and Robert Owen's Idealists--the two vastly different communities that shaped the history of New Harmony, Indiana Both the Rappites and the Owenites came to New Harmony to conduct communal living experiments--Rapp expecting the millennium; Owen believing he had brought the millennium with him.

242 pages, Paperback

Published April 22, 1984

About the author

William E. Wilson (1906–1988) was a professor of fiction writing and literature at Indiana University from 1950 to 1972.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William...

Librarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Kayla Barriger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating retelling of the story of New Harmony Indiana. I had no idea that there was so much history to the sleepy little town on the Wabash. Not only does it possess a history of socialism, but also of communism, both of which failing due to various elements described in the book. Overall, I would recommend this book to any history buff.

[Reading List · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unhappy the book in need of editors

[Shazza Maddog · Rating 3 out of 5]

Growing up in southwestern Indiana, I had heard of New Harmony, but only visited there once as a very young child (and the only reason I remember it was it had been a Girl Scout trip, and we ran through the labyrinth). Going back there as an adult, I fell in love, as the town feels much like the place of my heart, Cassadaga, Florida, except much more of an artist's community.

This novel explains how New Harmony came to be, from Rapp's belief of a better world for his fellow Germans to Owen's desire to create a New World Order in the United States - not to mention throughout the U.S. and beyond - and provides some interesting background on both major players.

A good historical background on the city of New Harmony.