This study investigates how subversive social and religious enterprises within the Massachusetts Puritan elite challenged the colony's foundational ideals of conformity between 1630 and 1692. Louise A. Breen, a historian specializing in early American culture, utilizes primary source documentation and institutional records to argue that internal tensions regarding individualism and cosmopolitanism were central to the evolution of New England identity. By examining the friction between localistic religious mandates and the diverse interests of the elite, the author provides a framework for understanding the fragility of the Puritan social order.

Historians and scholars of colonial American religion frequently cite this work for its nuanced examination of the intersection between social status and religious dissent. Readers often note the academic density of the prose, which is tailored for researchers and students of early American history.