Frederic’s most famous novel, The Damnation of Theron War, reveals a great deal about early 20th century provincial America, religious life, and the depressed state of intellectual and artistic culture in small towns. Frederic’s depiction of intolerance, and of the darker side of human nature, is comparable to the works of Emile Zola and Sinclair Lewis. It is widely considered a classic of American literature by scholars and critics.

The Damnation of Theron Ware (published in England as Illumination) is an 1896 novel by American author Harold Frederic. It chronicles the life of a young Methodist minister who, as he falls under the influence of progressive ideas, becomes a skeptic. He comes to regard his old religion as morally and spiritually bankrupt, but in the process is nearly destroyed for his unbelief.

Harold Frederic (August 19, 1856-October 19, 1898) was an American journalist and novelist. Frederic wrote several early stories, but it was not until he published Illumination (1896), better known by its American title, The Damnation of Theron Ware， followed by Gloria Mundi (1898), that his gifts as a novelist were fully realized. Critic Jonathan Yardley called Damnation “a minor classic of realism”.