Have a Nice Doomsday: Why millions of Americans are looking forward to the end of the world

Journeying to the dusty heartlands of America's Bible Belt, Nicholas Guyatt goes in search of the truth behind a startling statistic: 50 million Americans believe the apocalypse will take place in their own lifetimes.

They're convinced that, any day now, Jesus will snatch up his followers and spirit them to heaven. For the rest of us, things are going to get very nasty indeed: massive earthquakes, devastating wars, not to mention the terrifying rise of the Antichrist.

But true believers aren't just sitting around waiting for the Rapture. They're getting involved in debates over abortion, gay rights and even foreign policy. Are they devout or deranged? Why do they seem so cheerful about the end of the world? And, given the disturbing involvement of a leading presidential candidate, does their influence stretch beyond the Bible Belt ... perhaps even to the White House?

Strange, funny and unsettling in equal measure, Have a Nice Doomsday uncovers the apocalyptic obsession at the heart of the world's only superpower.