This book explores the recurrence of Apocalyptic motifs and imagery in blues and spirituals recorded by blues musicians. It looks at the ways in which Black Americans portray Apocalypse ideas about the Last Judgement from the Book of Revelation. It also focuses on how literary themes in spirituals and blues depict the destruction of the world, death, Christian judgement, heaven and catastrophic events in personal lives of African Americans that result in loss. Selected blues lyrics and texts of spirituals show the persistence of these themes. The book was written with a broad potential audience in mind especially among those interested in religion, eschatology, spirituals, blues and African American studies.

Ma?gorzata Zió?ek-Sowi?ska graduated from the Institute of Art, Music Department at Maria Curie-Sk?odowska University, Lublin; the American Studies Center at the University of Warsaw, and from the Institute of English Studies at the University of Warsaw. She earned her Ph.D. degree from the Modern Languages Department, University of Warsaw. She teaches at the American Studies Center, University of Warsaw.