Brigham Young: AMERICAN MOSES

by Leonard J. Arrington

Overview

From the preface:

"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 a Florence Nightingale. He was not merely an entrepreneur with a shared vision of America as the Promised Land; he was a prophet with visions of his own and he built beyond himself."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780252012969
Publisher:	University of Illinois Press
Publication date:	04/01/1986
Edition description:	REPRINT
Pages:	560
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Leonard J. Arrington was Lemuel Redd Professor of Western History at Brigham Young University and the former Director of the History Division of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His books include Great Basin Kingdom: An Economic History of the Latter-day Saints, 1830-1900 and coauthor of The Mormon Experience: A History of the Latter-day Saints. He died in 1999.
 

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi

Preface xiii

Prologue: "A Portly, Frank, Good-natured … Man" 3

1 Boyhood in Vermont and New York 7

2 Conversion and Commitment 19

3 Ardent Disciple, 1832-1834 31

4 Apostle 47

5 The Missouri Interlude 62

6 The British Mission 79

7 Nauvoo 98

8 City of Joseph 113

9 The Pioneer Trek to the Great Basin 130

10 To Zion, 1848 153

11 The Colonizer President 167

12 President of the Church 192

13 Indians: Friendship and Caution 210

14 Governor of Utah 223

15 The "Invasion" of Utah 250

16 Babylon Wars: Zion Grows 272

17 Governor and Counselor 302

18 Public Image and Private Reality 322

19 Protecting the Kingdom 342

20 Responding to the Challenges of the 1870s 363

21 The Last Year 382

Epilogue: Beyond Eulogy: The Legacy of Brigham Young 402

Appendixes 411

Notes and References 431

Bibliographical Essay 500

Index 511

Editorial Reviews

"Arrington gives readers as good a picture as they are likely to get of the man who assumed leadership of the major part of the Mormon church when Joseph Smith was assassinated in 1844, led its members west, and built a church empire in Utah."—R. Laurence Moore, New York Times Book Review

"A considerable achievement that will doubtless stand for many years as the most objective and authoritative biography of Young."—David Brion Davis, New York Review of Books

"Arrington pulls no punches. He writes of the successes as well as the failures, the conflicts as well as the compassion. The Mountain Meadows Massacre, polygamy, the United Order, and other controversial parts of the story are all discussed, neither underplayed nor sensationalized."—Carma Wadley, Deseret News

"Represents a significant turning point in Mormon historical scholarship for both Mormons and non-Mormons alike."—Howard R. Lamar, History Book Club Review

"Should bring new understanding and compassion for one of the most misunderstood giants in American history."—Don Keown, San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle

From the Publisher