This volume demonstrates how the Shakers and the Mormons maintained boundaries and created their own thriving, but insular communities separate and distinct from mainstream American Protestantism. The author describes the innovation deployed by both the Shakers and the Mormons through which they embraced their status as outsiders. He feels that their marginalization was critical to their initial success. He points out the differences between Shakers and Mormons and illuminates the characteristics which set these groups apart and helped them to become true religious dissenters.