The Prophet and the Reformer: The Letters of Brigham Young and Thomas L. Kane

ISBN-13: 9780195397734 / Angielski / Twarda / 2015 / 568 str.

Matthew J. Grow; Ronald W. Walker

Opis

Until his death in 1877, Brigham Young guided the religious, economic, and political life of the Mormon community, whose settlements spread throughout the West and provoked a profound political, legal, and even military confrontation with the American nation. Young first met Thomas L. Kane on the plains of western Iowa in 1846. Young came to rely on Kane, 21 years his junior, as his most trusted outside adviser, making Kane the most important non-Mormon in the history of the Church. In return, no one influenced the direction of Kane's life more than Young. The letters exchanged by the two offer crucial insights into Young's personal life and views as well as his actions as a political and religious leader. The Prophet and the Reformer offers a complete reproduction of the surviving letters between the Mormon prophet and the Philadelphia reformer. The correspondence reveals the strategies of the Latter-day Saints in relating to American culture and government during these crucial years when the "Mormon Question" was a major political, cultural, and legal issue. The letters also shed important light on the largely forgotten "Utah War" of 1857-58, triggered when President James Buchanan dispatched a military expedition to ensure federal supremacy in Utah and replace Young with a non-Mormon governor.

This annotated collection of their correspondence reveals a great deal about these two remarkable men, while also providing crucial insight into nineteenth-century Mormonism and the historical moment in which the movement developed.

Recenzje

[The book] reveals a profound mutual respect between the two men, and their correspondence provides considerable insight regarding the relationship of the Mormons and the US government during years that were critical for the church

O autorze

Matthew J. Grow received his PhD in U. S. history from the University of Notre Dame (2006) and previously taught history at the University of Southern Indiana, where he directed the Center for Communal Studies. He is currently director of publications for the Church Historical Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and a general editor of the Joseph Smith Papers. His first two books book, "Liberty to the Downtrodden": Thomas L. Kane, Romantic Reformer and Parley P. Pratt: The Apostle Paul of Mormonism have both received the Best Book of the Year from the Mormon History Association. Ronald W. Walker has lived the past thirty-five years in Salt Lake City, Utah. He is the author or co-author of more than five dozen scholarly articles and nine books.