Night Journeys: The Power of Dreams in Transatlantic Quaker Culture (review)

Book Reviews59 the book, one wonders if Richmond might have ventured some "lessons learned" that might be applied to the new, brewing cold war that we are living through at the beginning of the 21st century. In the same vein, an optimist might hope that the epigraph by John Le Carré that, "one day, history may tell us who really won. If a democratic Russia emerges—why then, Russia will have been the winner" may also be generalizable to other persons and other conflicts. B. Welling HallEarlham College NightJourneys: ThePower ofDreams in Transatlantic Quaker Culture. By Caria Gerona. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, ? + 290 pp. Notes and index. $35.00 This is an intriguing book which can be given high marks for tackling an elusive and difficult subject. Dreams, ofany kind, have long been subject to multiple interpretations, butreligious dreams andvisions are sometimes the most difficult to explain. Yet the author, in this ground-breaking work, thoroughly examines the place and significance of dreams among early modern Quakers. She has produced a thought-provoking and imaginative workonavery slippery subject. The interpretationofdreams is tricky, made all the more difficult by the very elusive nature ofthe very imaginings she is trying to grasp. Her study builds on previous discussions of the exact nature ofthe "Inner Light"— one ofthe bedrock foundations ofthe Quaker faith—and how this direct communication with God shaped Quakerism and its relationships. Geronamakes a powerful case thatwhat she calls "dreamwork " was central to the development ofQuakerism inboththe BritishIsles and inNorth America. Dreamwork, according to Gerona, actually was used methodicallybyFriends as "maps" ofthe future forthe definingoftheirown communities and as influences on the direction which they wished the British Empire to take. As Gerona writes—"Thus early American Quaker dreams acted as visual and psychical makers that helped this innovative group crisscross—and shape—a very real, though sometimes foreign, Atlantic world." (9) This book meticulously researches and conscientiously covers the various aspects ofthe influence ofdreamwork from the seventeenth century to the early part ofthe nineteenth. The first chapter examines a few representative dreams and puts Quaker dreaming into its historical perspective. Subsequent chapters examine the origins of Quaker dreamwork and the concept of "mapping" during the seventeenth century, the building of the discipline in the British colonies during the early eighteenth century, the 60Quaker History Quaker awakening to the problems ofempire during the middle years ofthe eighteenth century, the stress and separations during the American Revolution , and the dreamwork ofthe Early Republic. Overall this is a goodbook, butthere are a fewproblems. Whenthe author attempts to interpret some Quaker dreams as homoerotic (215-219) and others as xenophobic (230), she is not on solid ground and her conclusions are shaky. But althoughthe author does appearto misunderstand some ofthe dreams and provide thin evidence in some cases, her investigations are generally persuasive and she is generally successful in her conclusions that the Quakers used dreams to promote theirvisions ofwhatthe British Empire should be both among their own ranks and to the outside world . All in all, the bookis creative and imaginative, as well as entertaining. It is arefreshing read, a bit quirky at times but still a valuable addition to the scholarship of the early modem Quaker transatlantic community. Steven Jay WhiteBluegrass College ...