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Where did Mormonism come from?
What is it’s purpose?
Where is it going?
We don’t have the answers to the second and third questions due to a discernment and prognostication deficiency at Rational Faiths. Until we fix that we’ll keep working on answering the first question, through reading Mormon history.
For anyone new to studying Mormon history the volume of quality written works quickly becomes overwhelming. In an effort to prioritize the reading for a Mormon history neophyte Ben Park has developed a list of ten Mormon history books that will leave the reader with a sound historical understanding of the Mormon Story.
In this inaugural installment of “Top Ten Books on Mormon History,” Ben and I discuss Matthew Bowman’s The Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith.
Our “Top Ten Books on Mormon History” list was composed for someone new to Mormon History. The criteria for inclusion are the book’s demonstration of:
- Use of a sophisticated academic approach and emphasis on analysis over merely regurgitating data and documents.
- Coverage of an important person, event, or period in Mormon history
- Quality of writing.
- Length (not too long).
The List
- Matthew Bowman, The Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith
Release in March - Richard Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling
Release in April - Ronald Walker et. al., Massacre at Mountain Meadows
Release in May - Sarah Barringer Gordon, The Mormon Question Polygamy and Constitutional Conflict in Nineteenth-Century America
Release in June - Kathryn Daynes, More Wives Than One: Transformation of the Mormon Marriage System, 1840-1910
Release in July - Paul Reeve, Religion of a Different Color: Race and the Mormon Struggle for Whiteness
Release in August - Kathleen Flake, The Politics of American Religious Identity: The Seating of Senator Reed Smoot, Mormon Apostle
Release in September - Armand Mauss, The Angel and the Beehive: THE MORMON STRUGGLE WITH ASSIMILATION
Release in October - Prince & Wright, David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism
Release in November - Martha Bradley, Pedestals and Podiums: Utah Women, Religious Authority, and Equal Rights
Release in December
Music: bensound.com
Do you expect me to take this list seriously when it includes "Massacre at Mountain Meadows" and leaves off "Blood of the Prophets"?
I certainly hope so! 😉
Andrew Hamilton,
It is only a list of TEN books. You can’t have every book on there, they all simply won’t fit. In the list Ben has come up with there is a clear bias towards more recent works and in each episode we’ll talk about the predecessors to the book that made the list, such as Juanita Brooks’ “The Mountain Meadows Massacre” as well as Bagley’s “Blood of the Prophets” and how Walker et al’s “Massacre at Mountain Meadows” is reacting to previous iterations of the same section of history.
Mormonism in Transition: A History of the Latter-day Saints, 1890-1930 by Thomas Alexander needs to be included in the list (or at least have an honorable mention). There is definitely overlap with Flake’s book (which is fantastic and should be on the list) but Alexander has a broader scope and therefore tells the story in a more comprehensive way than Flake does.
Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet, and Mormons at the Missouri are also very important and fit the selection criteria pretty well (Pioneer Prophet is a little long though).
While I'm surprised (but not surprised) to see Religion of a Different Color break into the top ten so quickly, I don't disagree with that decision. I do see a consistent theme with all of these titles in that they all attempt to provide greater social context into the Mormon experience. Looking forward to the forthcoming episodes!
Ben mentioned that he has another list of 25 books, I tried finding this list, but couldn’t. Can anyone share the list of 25 books, I’d like to expand my list of 10 for deeper research. Thanks
hope_for_things,
Ask and ye shall receive: http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/the-mormon-history-comps-list-2014-version/
Awesome, thank you!
Agree with Brigham Young – Pioneer Prophet.
Isn’t this just a list of which asses Ben Park’s nose was in that day?