American Crucifixion

January 20, 2014
Aside from the fact that Mormonism’s founder Joseph Smith was assassinated in jail by gunfire, not nailed to a cross as the title indicates, Beam’s tale brings alive a cast of early 1840s characters as strange, flawed, and significant as any in American history. Beam (Gracefully Insane) presents Smith as an inventive, narcissistic visionary hounded for beliefs that ran counter to those of most Americans. If his new bible, The Book of Mormon, wasn’t enough to condemn him, his belief in plural gods and practice of polygamy surely would. But in Beam’s balanced telling of Smith’s tumultuous final years, it was the prejudice and intolerance of others as much as Smith’s strangeness that condemned him to early death and his new religion to enduring battles. Few Mormons and “Gentiles” get off lightly here, and Beam makes a strong case that they shouldn’t. That may not endear the book to all readers, whatever their beliefs, but it reveals how the fight over Mormonism, one built both on its distinctive claims and its enemies’ intolerance, extends into our day. Better, Beam implies in this lively telling, to try to understand its sad and violent origins than to condemn or praise it outright. Illus. Agent: Inkwell Management.

Starred review from March 1, 2014
Chased out of Missouri, founding prophet Joseph Smith and his Mormon followers settled in Nauvoo, Illinois, to lay down roots, build a temple, and deepen their hold in American life. They had quasi-independent status, operated their own businesses and courts, and maintained a paramilitary corps. Seeing himself as king of the kingdom of God, Smith sought reparations from Missouri and prepared a bid for the U.S. presidency. But by 1844, the tide had turned against the charismatic leader after a local newspaper editor and a faction that had seceded from the Mormons joined to expose its rising militarism and the practice of polygamy. When the Mormons retaliated and burned the press of another critic, nearby citizens had had enough and declared war on the Mormons. What followed were skirmishes that culminated in Smith's arrest and assassination before he could be tried. Beam offers a captivating saga of Smith's rise and fall and of a colorful cast of characters who contributed to the internal politics and rivalries that led to Smith's death and drove the Mormons forward to their destiny. Anyone interested in the formation and transformation of Mormonism as well as the intersection of religion, politics, and U.S. history will enjoy this fascinating book.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)