Recommended Books on Church History from Elder Jensen (Former Church Historian)

[cinepro]

During a recent local presentation, Elder Jensen said he would follow up with attendees and email a list of recommended books on Church history.  I recently received the email, so if you're wondering what the Top 14 books Elder Jensen would recommend people read to learn about LDS Church history, these are them:

 

(1)  Church History in the Fullness of Times (Institute manual)

 

(2)  The Mormon Experience: A History of the Latter-day Saints (Leonard Arrington)

(3)  Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism (Richard Bushman)

 

(4)  Rough Stone Rolling (Richard Bushman)

(5)  The Gathering of Zion: The Story of the Mormon Trail (Wallace Stegner)

(6)  Great Basin Kingdom: An Economic History of the Latter-day Saints (Leonard Arrington)

(7)  Mormonism in Transition: A History of the Latter-day Saints, 1890-1930 (Thomas G. Alexander)

(8)  Massacre at Mountain Meadows (Walker, Turley and Leonard)

(9)  The Angel and the Beehive (Armand Mauss)

(10)  David O. Mckay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism (Gregory Prince)

(11)  Lengthen Your Stride: The Presidency of Spencer W. Kimball (Edward L. Kimball)

(12)  By the Hand of Mormon (Terryl Givens)

(13)  Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition (Jan Shipps)

(14)  The Politics of American Religious Identity (Kathleen Flake)

Edited May 11, 2017 by cinepro

[JLHPROF]

Are these designed for people who don't know Church history or those who are already more than passingly familiar?

Because there are much better introductory texts.
Other than that there are some good ones and others that might be better choices.

[Robert F. Smith]

Marlin Jensen is my kind of guy.  This is indeed the thinking man's list of books necessary to an understanding of Mormon history.  Ordinary Mormons will not have read most of them, and likely never will.  In fact, one does not have to read any of them to be a faithful Mormon.

However, for those who truly care to push the envelope, once those books have been digested, there is another list of readings for those who want to delve more deeply into our very nuanced history -- including books and articles by Hales, Quinn, and others.

Edited May 11, 2017 by Robert F. Smith

[RevTestament]

2 hours ago, JLHPROF said:

Are these designed for people who don't know Church history or those who are already more than passingly familiar?

Because there are much better introductory texts.
Other than that there are some good ones and others that might be better choices.

Please list your introductory texts.

I just got Arrington's "The Mormon Experience" before this list drives up the price....hehe

I'll probably use it more as a reference book than a sit-down read tho.

[Scott Lloyd]

2 hours ago, JLHPROF said:

Are these designed for people who don't know Church history or those who are already more than passingly familiar?

Because there are much better introductory texts.
Other than that there are some good ones and others that might be better choices.

The first one on his list (the institute manual) is as good an introductory text as I know of. 

[Scott Lloyd]

One book I would add to this list is The Story of the Latter-day Saints by James B. Allen and Glen Leonard. Perhaps it's no longer in print and maybe that's why Elder Jensen didn't include it. 

It's a bit dated, but no more so than some of the books on this list. 

[clarkgoble]

While I'm a bit iffy on the institute manual many of those are really solid picks. A few are somewhat dated but overall most of his list are the same I'd recommend. That's pretty cool an apostle is recommending those. About the only things I'd add would be From Darkness Into Light which is the story of the coming forth of the book of Mormon with lots of facts I didn't know. I'd also add Given's Wrestling the Angel: The Foundations of Mormon Thought: Cosmos, God, Humanity. I like it much more than By the Hand of Mormon and it's a great introduction to the history of Mormon theology which most histories tend to leave out or do half heartedly.

His suggest of the The Mormon Experience by Arrington really is good. It's quite dated now but I've still bought several copies for people who want a brief one volume book on church history. (There's apparently a few new books out trying to fill that role with more up to date information but I've not read them yet so I can't comment on them)

Edited May 11, 2017 by clarkgoble

[Robert F. Smith]

18 minutes ago, clarkgoble said:

................................. That's pretty cool an apostle is recommending those. ..............................

..........................................

Elder Jensen is now an emeritus Seventy.  He was formerly in the Presidency of Seventy.

[stemelbow]

Like Clark, I'm iffy about the institute manual on this list.  But to each his own I suppose. 

link

It seems far more devotion than history to me, but there's value in that for sure. 

It's a good list, even if there are a couple I haven't read. 

There are a few others I'd like to see on a list like this....sad most probably to not see Mormon Enigma on it.

[clarkgoble]

9 hours ago, Robert F. Smith said:

Elder Jensen is now an emeritus Seventy.  He was formerly in the Presidency of Seventy.

Whoops. I should have known that. I used to know all the apostles and kept up with who's who. Then I got old, had kids, and people keep dying. LOL. I can still name all the old apostles. 

[clarkgoble]

1 hour ago, stemelbow said:

There are a few others I'd like to see on a list like this....sad most probably to not see Mormon Enigma on it.

I like Mormon Enigma more than most people, but in a certain way since it's primarily a biography of Emma it doesn't contextualize a lot of things well. 

[stemelbow]

1 hour ago, clarkgoble said:

I like Mormon Enigma more than most people, but in a certain way since it's primarily a biography of Emma it doesn't contextualize a lot of things well. 

SOunds good.  It's one of my faves and I'd suggest it offers context that feels missing from other works. 

[Scott Lloyd]

2 hours ago, stemelbow said:

Like Clark, I'm iffy about the institute manual on this list.  But to each his own I suppose. 

link

It seems far more devotion than history to me, but there's value in that for sure. 

 

This presupposes that a devotional tone is inherently a negative quaity. When it comes to the Church of Jesus Christ, I don't concede that it is, though I understand that you might feel that way.

We should bear in mind implied audiences. For the institute manual, it is an audience of faithful, believing, devoted Church members. I think the manual does a superb job of meeting the needs of such a readership, even as it provides a solid foundational knowledge of Church history. Elder Jensen, the former Church Historian and Recorder, was right to put that at the top of the list.

 

[Scott Lloyd]

I was glad to see Massacre at Mountain Meadows included on the list. It remains the best treatment of that sorry chapter in Church history. Its only drawback is that it lacks content regarding the aftermath of the massacre, the investigation, trials, etc. I understand there was always a sequel planned, and last I heard, that was still in the works.

 

Edited May 11, 2017 by Scott Lloyd

[stemelbow]

4 minutes ago, Scott Lloyd said:

This presupposes that a devotional tone is inherently a negative quaity.

I don't think it's negative.  It just means it's less about history or less concerned with it.  The reason I said it was iffy was because I was thinking along the lines of history books. 

4 minutes ago, Scott Lloyd said:

When it comes to the Church of Jesus Christ, I don't concede that it is, though I understand that you might feel that way.

We should bear in mind implied audiences. For the institute manual, it is an audience of faithful, believing, devoted Church members. I think the manual does a superb job of meeting the needs of such a readership, even as it provides a solid foundational knowledge of Church history. Elder Jensen, the former Church Historian and Recorder, was right to put that at the top of the list.

 

I wonder if the list was meant to be in order.  If so, then I find his putting that manual at the top even more iffy.  I took them as in no particular order. 

[stemelbow]

9 minutes ago, Scott Lloyd said:

I was glad to see Massacre at Mountain Meadows included on the list. It remains the best treatment of that sorry chapter in Church history. It's only drawback is that it lacks content regarding the aftermath of the massacre, the investigation, trials, etc. I understand there was always a sequel planned, and last I heard, that was still in the works.

 

I liked that book too.  The inclusion of it was interesting, since it's so focused on an incident (was he historian when it was written?  I wonder if that factors into why he has it listed here).  But, it really adds some context to the Church in the 1850s. 

Edited May 11, 2017 by stemelbow

[hope_for_things]

Besides many of those books being dated there is a lot of duplication between Bushman's book on the beginnings of Mormonism and RSR.  Also, where is the full length treatment of Polygamy, or a treatment on Race, or Women in the church.  

 

[Nevo]

15 hours ago, cinepro said:

During a recent local presentation, Elder Jensen said he would follow up with attendees and email a list of recommended books on Church history.

That's a good list.

Here's my top 10 list of recommended books for the "average member" looking to broaden their knowledge of LDS history:

1. Allen and Leonard, The Story of the Latter-day Saints
2. Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling
3. Underwood, The Millenarian World of Early Mormonism
4. Backman, The Heavens Resound: A History of the Latter-Day Saints in Ohio, 1830-1838
5. Leonard, Nauvoo: A Place of Peace, a People of Promise
6. Walker, Turley, and Leonard, Massacre at Mountain Meadows
7. Ulrich, A House Full of Females: Plural Marriage and Women’s Rights in Early Mormonism, 1835-1870
8. Alexander, Mormonism in Transition: A History of the Latter-day Saints, 1890-1930
9. Mauss, The Angel and the Beehive: The Mormon Struggle with Assimilation
10. Mauss, All Abraham's Children: Changing Mormon Conceptions of Race and Lineage

For members that are bit more adventurous, I would also recommend:

• Bergera, Conflict in the Quorum
• Compton, In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith
• Hallwas and Launius, Cultures in Conflict: A Documentary History of the Mormon War in Illinois
• LeSueur, The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri
• Newell and Avery, Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith
• Quinn, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View
• Quinn, Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power and Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power
• Quinn, Elder Statesman: A Biography of J. Reuben Clark
• Smith, ed., An Intimate Chronicle: The Journals of William Clayton
• Turner, Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet

[stemelbow]

2 minutes ago, Nevo said:

That's a good list.

Here's my top 10 list of recommended books for the "average member" looking to broaden their knowledge of LDS history:

1. Allen and Leonard, The Story of the Latter-day Saints
2. Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling
3. Underwood, The Millenarian World of Early Mormonism
4. Backman, The Heavens Resound: A History of the Latter-Day Saints in Ohio, 1830-1838
5. Leonard, Nauvoo: A Place of Peace, a People of Promise
6. Walker, Turley, and Leonard, Massacre at Mountain Meadows
7. Ulrich, A House Full of Females: Plural Marriage and Women’s Rights in Early Mormonism, 1835-1870
8. Alexander, Mormonism in Transition: A History of the Latter-day Saints, 1890-1930
9. Mauss, The Angel and the Beehive: The Mormon Struggle with Assimilation
10. Mauss, All Abraham's Children: Changing Mormon Conceptions of Race and Lineage

For members that are bit more adventurous, I would also recommend:

• Bergera, Conflict in the Quorum
• Compton, In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith
• Hallwas and Launius, Cultures in Conflict: A Documentary History of the Mormon War in Illinois
• LeSueur, The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri
• Newell and Avery, Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith
• Quinn, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View
• Quinn, Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power and Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power
• Quinn, Elder Statesman: A Biography of J. Reuben Clark
• Smith, ed., An Intimate Chronicle: The Journals of William Clayton
• Turner, Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet

I'm saving this list. 

I see I've only been through half of what's on this list (6 from the first ten and 4 from the second). 

 

[Scott Lloyd]

19 minutes ago, stemelbow said:

I don't think it's negative.  It just means it's less about history or less concerned with it.  The reason I said it was iffy was because I was thinking along the lines of history books. 

I wonder if the list was meant to be in order.  If so, then I find his putting that manual at the top even more iffy.  I took them as in no particular order. 

If nothing else, it suggests that the institute manual came to his mind first as he was compiling his list.

I think one reason he put it at the top may have been that some of the other books on the list are not as meaningful or understandable without a contextual knowledge of the history of the Church -- which the institute manual provides and in a superb way. (I take exception to your remark that the student manual is "less concerned" with history.)

For example, in recommending Church history books to an uninitiated reader, I would feel far more comfortable recommending, say, Massacre at Mountain Meadows or Stegner's The Gathering of Zion if I knew that said reader already had Church History in the Fulness of Times under his belt.

[clarkgoble]

42 minutes ago, Scott Lloyd said:

This presupposes that a devotional tone is inherently a negative quaity. When it comes to the Church of Jesus Christ, I don't concede that it is, though I understand that you might feel that way.

We should bear in mind implied audiences. For the institute manual, it is an audience of faithful, believing, devoted Church members. I think the manual does a superb job of meeting the needs of such a readership, even as it provides a solid foundational knowledge of Church history. Elder Jensen, the former Church Historian and Recorder, was right to put that at the top of the list.

I think the devotional part is important. The problem is it leaves out a lot of important history.

[Scott Lloyd]

1 hour ago, clarkgoble said:

I think the devotional part is important. The problem is it leaves out a lot of important history.

Every book on the list leaves out a lot of important history. Being selective does not necessarily make a treatment inferior.

 

Edited May 11, 2017 by Scott Lloyd

[hope_for_things]

19 minutes ago, clarkgoble said:

I think the devotional part is important. The problem is it leaves out a lot of important history.

Its hard to find books that bridge the gap between the devotional approach and a scholarly approach to history.  I like Patrick Mason's Planted and I've given quite a few copies away to family and friends, but I've found that some of them find that book challenging even though I think it approaches the subjects in a thoughtful manner with the target audience in mind. 

What would really help would be a book written by one of the brethren that has the clout of authority that many members need in order to be receptive.  The book could introduce members to an understanding of how we have told our history in context of unique circumstances and how exaggerations have happened over time to make things seem more miraculous than they are.

Essentially a book that instructs people on the development of myth from a religious perspective and how beginning to interpret life differently is a part of natural human development that we shouldn't be fearful of.  This introductory work could prepare members to explore things without fear and with an expectation that they will find troubling events that challenge Sunday School narratives.  I think this is what's missing.  

[hope_for_things]

44 minutes ago, Nevo said:

That's a good list.

Here's my top 10 list of recommended books for the "average member" looking to broaden their knowledge of LDS history:

1. Allen and Leonard, The Story of the Latter-day Saints
2. Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling
3. Underwood, The Millenarian World of Early Mormonism
4. Backman, The Heavens Resound: A History of the Latter-Day Saints in Ohio, 1830-1838
5. Leonard, Nauvoo: A Place of Peace, a People of Promise
6. Walker, Turley, and Leonard, Massacre at Mountain Meadows
7. Ulrich, A House Full of Females: Plural Marriage and Women’s Rights in Early Mormonism, 1835-1870
8. Alexander, Mormonism in Transition: A History of the Latter-day Saints, 1890-1930
9. Mauss, The Angel and the Beehive: The Mormon Struggle with Assimilation
10. Mauss, All Abraham's Children: Changing Mormon Conceptions of Race and Lineage

For members that are bit more adventurous, I would also recommend:

• Bergera, Conflict in the Quorum
• Compton, In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith
• Hallwas and Launius, Cultures in Conflict: A Documentary History of the Mormon War in Illinois
• LeSueur, The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri
• Newell and Avery, Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith
• Quinn, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View
• Quinn, Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power and Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power
• Quinn, Elder Statesman: A Biography of J. Reuben Clark
• Smith, ed., An Intimate Chronicle: The Journals of William Clayton
• Turner, Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet

Great list, thanks for sharing.  I would add Paul Reeve's Religion of a Different Color, that is a must read in my opinion.  I also very much liked Gregory Prince's biography of Leonard Arrington, and Richard Van Wagoner's - Natural Born Seer is the best biography on the early Joseph Smith years in my opinion.  

Edited May 11, 2017 by hope_for_things

[cinepro]

15 hours ago, Scott Lloyd said:

The first one on his list (the institute manual) is as good an introductory text as I know of. 

That manual came out while I was on my mission, and I bought a hardback copy that I still have.  But I think now, in 2017, it represents a "Church history as taught in the early 1990's" perspective that has too many liabilities.

When I was young, my dad told me how whenever he was considering buying an encyclopedia, he would simply turn to the entry on the LDS Church and read it.  If that article was well done, then he was confident that the rest of the entries would be suitable.  But if it had errors or was written polemically, he wouldn't trust the rest of the books.

If we subject the Institute manual to the same test and used the method of Book of Mormon translation, the origin of the Book of Abraham, polygamy, or the priesthood ban as a litmus test for its honesty and forthrightness, I don't know how well it would pass the test.  Not that I would expect a book written 25 years ago for a faithful audience to cover such subjects, but only that it would leave huge gaps for someone reading it today.  At the very least, I hope the Gospel Topics essays are taught as a mandatory supplement at the suitable points any time that book is used in Institute instruction.