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American Crucifixion: The Murder Of Joseph Smith And The Fate Of The Mormon Church (2014)

by Alex Beam(Favorite Author)

3.65 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

1610393139 (ISBN13: 9781610393133)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

PublicAffairs

review 1: So yeah, i didn't know anything really about Mormonism. The author gives a concise history of the early days of Joseph Smith and his religion and i must say (sorry) i laughed my ass off. And these revelations are still the basis for a big religion? Not a cult but a true full-grown religion? I, already not so susceptible to religion, was astounded. That's what stays most with me after reading this book and i might even pick up one or two other boosk about Mormons after this.Furthermore it was an entertaining read, not amazing but quite okay.
review 2: I'm sure this is not an easy topic for a historian to write about, but I thought Beam did a really good job. There are obviously a lot of conflicting reports about Joseph Smith and when there were differing account... mores of events, Beam would include words like "allegedly" and he attempted to gauge the reliability of witnesses. For example some anti-Mormons were called scallywags and such. I've read a lot written by believers and it was fun to get a bit more socio-economic-political background on why there was so much hate of the early Mormons of the Nauvoo era. It wasn't just about religion any more than conflicts in the Middle East are today (religion is and was a big part, but not the whole story). There were some interesting anecdotes that I hadn't heard before, e.g. Joseph trying to sell military-grade flame throwers to the Tsar of Russia(!). If you want a faith promoting book, this is not it. If you want an anti-Mormon book saying that Joseph got what he deserved, this is not it. It's just a good history book that gives you plenty of room to dig further. less

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