This work investigates the intellectual and religious influence of the Mather family on the development of early American society. Robert Middlekauff, a distinguished historian of colonial America, utilizes extensive primary source materials, including personal diaries, sermons, and correspondence, to reconstruct the lives of Richard, Increase, and Cotton Mather. He argues that the family's shifting theological perspectives mirror the broader transition of Puritanism from a rigid, dogmatic structure to a more complex, evolving social force in the New England colonies.

Historians frequently cite this text as a foundational study for understanding the intersection of family legacy and religious authority in colonial New England. Readers often note the academic density of the prose, which provides a rigorous look at the intellectual climate of the era.