As we approach the millenium, apocolyptic expectations are rising in North America and throughout the world. Outside the symbolic aura of the millenium, this excitation is fed by currents of unsettling social and cultural change. The "millenial myth" ingrained in American culture is continually generating new movements, which draw upon the myth and also reshape and reconstruct it. This text examines many types of apocolypticism such as economic, racialist, environmental, feminist, as well as those erupting from established churches. Many of these movements are volatile and potentially explosive. The text brings together scholars of apocolyptic and millenial groups to explore aspects of the contemporary apocolyptic fervour in all orginal contributions. Opening with a discussion of various theories of apocalypticism, the editors then analyze how millenialist movements have gained ground in largely secular societal circles. Section three discusses the links between apocalypticism and established churches, while the final part of the book looks at examples of violence and confrontation, from Waco to Solar Temple to the Aum Shinr.