oMtonic Posted April 6, 2013 Posted April 6, 2013 Hello All,I am trying to round out my personal library, and I was hoping that my fellow board members could recommend me the best books or resources on Joseph Smith and his practice of polygamy. I've read various articles over the years, but I don't actually own any books on the topic.I see there was a recently released 3 volume collection entitled "Joseph Smith's Polygamy" by Brian C. Hales. Has anyone read these books? Are they good resources?Thanks in advance!Note: The purpose of this thread is to recommend books or other resources pertaining to Joseph Smith and his practice of polygamy--not to debate the subject. Please stay on topic. Thank you.
RBoylan Posted April 6, 2013 Posted April 6, 2013 Hales 3-volume work is a must.Foster and Bringhurst, ed. Persistence of Polygamy is also a must-read; vol. 1 is focused on Joseph Smith and the origins of LDS polygamy (there will be another two volumes coming out in the near future).Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling, as it is the best JS bioHardy, Solemn Covenant and Doing the Works of AbrahamCompton, In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of JSVan Wagoner, Mormon Polygamy, 2d ed.In terms of articles, Gregory Smith's article on the FAIR Website and his review of Nauvoo Polygamy are also very well-done works. 1
Nevo Posted April 6, 2013 Posted April 6, 2013 I agree with RBoylan's list, but would also add George D. Smith's Nauvoo Polygamy: " . . but we called it celestial marriage". It has some problems, to be sure, but it is nevertheless an important resource (see, e.g., Thomas Alexander's review in BYU Studies).
David T Posted April 9, 2013 Posted April 9, 2013 Hales 3-volume work is a must.Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling, as it is the best JS bioI say these two. RSR is essential for an overview of Joseph's life, and should be required reading for anyone beginning to delve into historical Mormon studies.Hales' book series(I'm just completing volume 3 now) interacts and dialogues with every previous book on Polygamy, and presents the text and context of every known source. It truly is an exhaustive and complete work. While I don't always agree with his conclusions, he lays out all the evidence for all sides and interpretations that have been given, allowing you all you really need to come to your own conclusions. 1
DonBradley Posted April 9, 2013 Posted April 9, 2013 Joseph Smith Fought Polygamy - Richard & Pamela PriceO how I wish this recommendation were meant as a joke. 1
DonBradley Posted April 9, 2013 Posted April 9, 2013 Brian C. Hales, Joseph Smith's Polygamy, Volumes 1-3.This set, with which you could say I am intimately familiar, makes use of every source that's ever been cited in anything that's ever been written on Joseph Smith and polygamy, and brings in hundreds of new sources not previously published. While there will certainly be more scholarship on the subject, and some of the interpretations are bound to be modified with the progress of scholarship in this area, it is unlikely that there will again (at least for a number of decades) be a work that will comprehensively employ every known source.If there's ever been something to buy on Joseph Smith's polygamy, this is it.Don 1
Tacenda Posted April 9, 2013 Posted April 9, 2013 O how I wish this recommendation were meant as a joke.No joke!
DonBradley Posted April 9, 2013 Posted April 9, 2013 To be honest with you, I wish the Prices were right. I'd far rather that Joseph Smith had never taught or practiced polygamy. How much simpler LDS history and theology would be! But given the mountain of evidence on the subject, it really is a joke, whether intentional or not, to recommend their book as the best historical work on Joseph Smith and polygamy.Don 1
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