Joseph Smith: The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet

Historian Turner follows up They Knew They Were Pilgrims with a thorough biography of Mormonism’s enigmatic founder, Joseph Smith Jr. (1805–1844). The author traces Smith’s itinerant youth bouncing between New England and New York farms, his prophecies (most notably his “First Vision,” in which Jesus supposedly revealed to Smith that contemporary churches had “turned aside from the gospel”), his doctrinal innovations, his gathering of believers into several city-building projects, and his murder by a mob while awaiting trial for inciting a riot. Steering away from hagiography, Turner details Smith’s treasure seeking, his tendency to dodge legal problems, and his initial hiding of several of his polygamous marriages from his first wife Emma—while also crediting him for holding his church together amid dissent, “enabling others” to see heavenly visions, and assimilating disparate ideas and inspirations into an “original, attractive system” of doctrine and ritual. Turner lightly contextualizes Smith’s place in American history, but readers wanting a deeper understanding of his influences and contemporaneous events outside his community will wish for more. Still, Turner’s scrupulous research vividly brings Smith to life both as a religious innovator and as a colorful, eccentric personality who was skillful at cajoling would-be defectors and advancing ambitious plans but also rushed headlong into controversies and showed flashes of anger. The result is a scholarly yet highly readable account of a key figure in American religious history. (June)