Expanded Scholars' EditionWhere did The Book of Mormon come from? Who was Solomon Spalding and what connection did his manuscript have with Joseph Smith? To answer these questions, this book critically examines key historical documents, personal testimonies, and records of 19th-century Mormon history to examine this “Spalding Enigma.”The authors have spent decades collecting and analyzing evidence to conclude that The Book of Mormon is an “adaptation of an ...

Readers' EditionWhere did The Book of Mormon come from? Who was Solomon Spalding and what connection did his manuscript have with Joseph Smith? To answer these questions, this book critically examines key historical documents, personal testimonies, and records of 19th-century Mormon history to examine this “Spalding Enigma.”The authors have spent decades collecting and analyzing evidence to conclude that The Book of Mormon is an “adaptation of an obscure hi...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer Jon Meacham chronicles the life of Abraham Lincoln, charting how—and why—he confronted secession, threats to democracy, and the tragedy of slavery to expand the possibilities of America.“Meacham has given us the Lincoln for our time.”—Henry Louis Gates, Jr.Winner of the Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize • Longlisted for the Biographers International Plutarch Award • O...

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 esteemed cultural historian and a practicing Mormon, moves beyond the popular stereotype of Smith as a colorful fraud to explore his personality, his relationships with others, and how he received ...

A gripping account of the mob killing of Joseph Smith, founder of Mormonism“American Crucifixion paints a brilliant picture of religious experimentation, public intolerance, and the making of a martyr.”—Chicago TribuneOn June 27, 1844, in the dusty frontier town of Carthage, Illinois, Joseph Smith and three of his associates waited anxiously in a jail cell. The dynamic founding prophet of Mormonism no longer had a congregation to p...

Join New York Times bestselling author Stephen Mansfield as he dives into the incredible story of Abraham Lincoln's spiritual life and draws from it a deeper meaning that's sure to inspire us all.Abraham Lincoln is, undoubtedly, among the most beloved of all U.S. presidents. He helped to abolish slavery, gave the world some of its most memorable speeches, and redefined the meaning of America. He did all of this with endless wisdom, compassion, and wit. Yet...

Beginning in the 1830s, at least thirty-three women married Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism. These were passionate relationships which also had some longevity, except in cases such as that of two young sisters, one of whom was discovered by Joseph’s first wife, Emma, in a locked bedroom with the prophet. Emma remained a steadfast opponent of polygamy throughout her life.The majority of Smith’s wives were younger than he, and one-third were between fourteen and twenty years o...

In the early 1820s a young boy named Joseph Smith claimed that God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him and told him to found a new church. Thus began Mormonism, a faith that has grown to thirteen million members worldwide. The Mormon Contradiction: In Their Own Words offers the reader an insight into what the Mormon Church is really all about, including: Where the Book of Mormon really came from Joseph Smiths personal history and use of Occultism and Freemasonry The original accoun...

From the author of A Midwife's Tale, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the Bancroft Prize for History,and The Age of Homespun--a revelatory, nuanced, and deeply intimate look at the world of early Mormon women whose seemingly ordinary lives belied an astonishingly revolutionary spirit, drive, and determination.A stunning and sure-to-be controversial book that pieces together, through more than two dozen nineteenth-century diaries, letters, albums, ...

**“An intimate character portrait and fascinating inquiry into the basis of Lincoln’s energetic, curious mind.”—The Wall Street JournalWINNER OF THE BARONDESS/LINCOLN AWARD • From the New York Times bestselling author of A. Lincoln and American Ulysses, a revelatory glimpse into the intellectual journey of our sixteenth president through his private notes to himself, explored together here for the first time**A deeply private man, shut of...

Anyone interested in Joseph Smith will be fascinated by Remembering Joseph, the most complete collection ever of stories from the Prophet's family, friends, acquaintances — even his enemies. Organized topically, the stories treat a wide variety of subjects: the character of Joseph Smith, the doctrines he taught, the gifts of the Spirit he enjoyed, important events in his life, and many others. A great number of these stories have not previously been published. A great resource on ...

When Joseph Smith entered Kirtland, Ohio, for the first time, he had only the year before established a church and brought forth a new book of scripture, the Book of Mormon. After moving the church and most of its members from western New York and establishing its headquarters at Kirtland—while simultaneously establishing his Zion in communities in Missouri—he oversaw a decade of both peace and prosperity and chaos and conflict.But just who was Joseph Smith? What motivated him? In ...