This book investigates how early American perceptions of India and Hinduism were constructed, contested, and utilized to define American religious identity between 1721 and 1893. Michael J. Altman, a scholar of American religious history, examines how diverse groups—including missionaries, Unitarians, and Transcendentalists—projected their own theological anxieties and aspirations onto the concept of the "Hindoo." By analyzing a wide array of primary sources, the author argues that the American invention of "Hinduism" was less about understanding India and more about navigating the shifting landscape of American Protestantism and the search for a universal religious framework.

Scholars in the field of American religious history recognize this work as a significant contribution to the study of how foreign religions are imported and reconfigured to serve domestic cultural needs. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose and the rigorous archival research that supports Altman's central arguments.