Tell It to the World - by C. Mervyn Maxwell, PhD

The story of how the Adventist church started, developed, and became what it is today


C. Mervyn Maxwell's Tell It to the World is an excellent popular history of the Great Advent Movement. Starting with the story of the Great Awakening and the Millerite movement, Maxwell takes us step by step through the Great Disappointment of 1844, an understanding of the heavenly sanctuary, Ellen White's first visions, Sabbath, church organization, the publishing work, education, missions, reorganization, all the way down to the 1980s.

All of the Maxwells were great story tellers, and C. Mervyn is no exception. This book is peppered with great stories of miraculous providence and divine guidance. A couple of parts are a little dull. And some are a bit over-simplified or over-dramatized, but it's a great book. And Maxwell's specialty is history, so he backs up his stories with documented references.

If you really want to gain a good understanding of what Adventists believe, why they believe it, and the culture that made it all happen, this is the book to read.