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 some new to Mormon History. The criteria for inclusion are the books demonstration of the books:
- Use of a sophisticated academic approach and emphasis on analysis over merely regurgitating data and documents.
- Coverage 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 FaithRelease 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
POWERED BY BLUBRRY
