Fire and Sword: A History of the Latter-Day Saints in Northern Missouri, 1836-39 Rating :
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
A Must Read!
By NathanS
This is an update to Leland Gentry's PHD dissertation (with the scholary help of Todd Compton) of the Latter-day Saints in Missouri from 1836 to 1839. This book is a must read for any scholar or serious student of the LDS people in general or of their Missouri experience in particular.
This is not an easy read, however, for a casual reader. But well worth the effort.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.Surprisingly good
By Steven L. Staker
This is a very readable book, despite the fact that it is a modified PhD dissertation. It is also thorough and balanced in its presentation. I recommend it highly.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
A Good, Although Somewhat Biased, Account
By A. Tady
This book is a detailed look at the tumultuous relationship between the Mormons and the Missourians during the few years that the LDS Church was primarily located in northern Missouri. I was struck at how, given the very conflicting nature of the accounts from the two sides of the "Mormon War," it is nearly impossible for a historian to be completely objective. You have to believe one side or the other before you can start making conclusions about what actually caused and then happened during the Mormon War. Despite this difficulty, Gentry (with an update from Compton) does a pretty good job at looking at the evidence as objectively as he can and drawing conclusions that, yes, are pro-Mormon, but also do not seek to whitewash some of the more hostile actions of the Mormons (it was a war, after all, so there was fighting on both sides).
There were two topics Gentry discussed, however, where he was less objective than he could have been. First, his discussion of Joseph Smith's involvement in the Danite organization seemed to ignore Joseph Smith's role in the LDS church and community at that time. Second, his treatment of Judge Austin King's preliminary hearing shortly after the surrender and arrest of Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and other church leaders, also seemed overly critical. To be sure, there were serious problems with the hearing, but Gentry's repeatedly argues that Judge King improperly excluded evidence that would contradict the evidence of the leaders' involvement in the plundering and destruction of non-Mormon property. But the purpose of the hearing was to determine whether there was sufficient evidence to hold the leaders in prison until a trial could be had. In other words, the Judge only needed to hear the evidence against the leaders at that time. Weighing the evidence and resolving conflicts in the testimony would come later when the case actually went to trial.
Compton's "updates" revealed their own bias, however. Too often Compton appeared to agree with non-Mormon critics without actually weighing or considering the various pieces of the historical record. For example, Compton accepts, without much analysis and without any close examination of the historical evidence, that the Danites and the official Mormon militia were one and the same. If that were the case, then how could Sampson Avard be the leader of the Danites and George Hinkle be the leader of the militia? If the organizations were one and the same, shouldn't there be an overlap in their leadership? The only overlapping leader identified in the book was David W. Patton, who was also an apostle in the LDS church before he died in the Battle of Crooked River.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #926420 in Books
- Published on: 2010-11-23
- Original language:English
- Dimensions: 10.51" h x7.24" w x.0" l,2.95 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 635 pages
No comments :
Post a Comment