Ann Lee was one of the most extraordinary and mysterious women in the history of Western culture. From humble origins in Manchester, England, this illiterate daughter of a blacksmith became a visionary religious leader who was thought by her followers to be the second incarnation of Christ. She brought the Shaking Quakers, or Shakers, to America on the eve of the revolution. When she died at age 48, she left behind a religious movement that was to have thousands of followers and to become our most successful and important utopian community.