Best Mormon History Books

Top 10 Best Mormon History Books : Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling, David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism, The Mormon Experience: A History of the Latter-day Saints, Brigham Young: American Moses, The History of Joseph Smith by His Mother, Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet, Massacre at Mountain Meadows, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, Church History In The Fullness Of Times: Religion 341 343: The History Of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints (32502), The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power

Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling

Author	Richard L. Bushman
ISBN	1400077532

Founder of the largest indigenous Christian church in American history, Joseph Smith published the 584-page Book of Mormon when he was twenty-three and went on to organize a church, found cities, and attract thousands of followers before his violent death at age thirty-eight. Richard Bushman, an...

David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism

Author	Gregory A. Prince
ISBN	0874808227

Ordained as an apostle in 1906, David O. McKay served as president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1951 until his death in 1970. Under his leadership, the church experienced unparalleled growth—nearly tripling in total membership—and becoming a significant presence...

The Mormon Experience: A History of the Latter-day Saints

Author	Leonard J. Arrington
ISBN	0252062361

This book is an effort by two LDS historians to write a comprehensive history of the church that could be used as a college text or for those interested in a one volume study of the church. It is somewhat dated having been written in the 1970's or 80's. I really enjoyed it because although it was an academic...

Brigham Young: American Moses

Author	Leonard J. Arrington
ISBN	0252012968

"Brigham Young was the supreme American paradox, not because he contained elements foreign to American soil but because he united them--the business genius of a Rockefeller with the spiritual sensitivities of an Emerson, the lusty enjoyments of the pleasures of good living with the tenderness of...

The History of Joseph Smith by His Mother

Author

Lucy Mack Smith

Okay, can I just say that I ROCK for finishing this book? It took a lot of perseverence, lemme tell ya.

I picked it up at the library last November or so. “Hey,” I thought to myself. “This would be a good thing to read right now, with all the celebrations of Joseph Smith going on for the 200th...

Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet

Author	John G. Turner
ISBN	0674049675

Brigham Young was a rough-hewn craftsman from New York whose impoverished and obscure life was electrified by the Mormon faith. He trudged around the United States and England to gain converts for Mormonism, spoke in spiritual tongues, married more than fifty women, and eventually transformed a...

Massacre at Mountain Meadows

Author	Ronald W. Walker
ISBN	0195160347

On September 11, 1857, a band of Mormon militia, under a flag of truce, lured unarmed members of a party of emigrants from their fortified encampment and, with their Paiute allies, killed them. More than 120 men, women, and children perished in the slaughter.
Massacre at Mountain Meadows offers...

Early Mormonism and the Magic World View

Author	D. Michael Quinn
ISBN	1560850892

In this ground-breaking book, D. Michael Quinn masterfully reconstructs an earlier age, finding ample evidence for folk magic in nineteenth-century New England, as he does in Mormon founder Joseph Smith’s upbringing. Quinn discovers that Smith’s world was inhabited by supernatural creatures...

Church History In The Fullness Of Times: Religion 341 343: The History Of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints (32502)

Author	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
ISBN	0402325028

I find interesting, especially, the focus on education, the methods of that education and the effects of that education on/with the early members of the restored Church of Jesus Christ. One can read of how most, but not all, lived the true principles of the gospel. This can be helpful to see how these principles...

The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power

Author	D. Michael Quinn
ISBN	1560850604

 The Mormon church today is led by an elite group of older men, nearly three-quarters of whom are related to current or past general church authorities. This dynastic hierarchy meets in private; neither its minutes nor the church’s finances are available for public review. Members are reassured...