The Gospel According to Hobby Lobby - Inside a Billionaire Family's Quest to Craft a Christian Nation

Hobby Lobby is a craft store chain worth billions, with more than a thousand locations across the United States. Its founders and owners, the Green family, are evangelicals who want the Bible to be the final authority behind American law and society. Michael Blanding investigates how they turned a retail fortune into political reach.

The book traces the money. The Greens have paid for far-reaching advertising campaigns that promote biblical values, and they have supported evangelical education with gifts of cash and land. Blanding follows their quieter spending too, which reaches well beyond US borders.

He covers the family's Supreme Court case, which won them the right to refuse their employees insurance coverage for contraception. He also tracks millions of dollars sent to groups working to overturn Roe v. Wade and to weaken LGBTQ rights.

A further strand concerns the Museum of the Bible, built at a cost of many millions just blocks from the US Capitol. To fill it, the Greens acquired biblical antiquities from the Middle East that were looted, stolen or forged.

This is investigative non-fiction with a critical stance. It suits readers who want to understand how private wealth shapes the Christian nationalist movement in America.