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 revelations. An arresting narrative of the birth of the Mormon Church, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling also brilliantly evaluates the prophet's bold contributionsto Christian theology and his cultural place in the modern world.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
brilliantly written:
I am no Saint (by which I mean Latter Day), but I found this book to be fascinating & beautifully written. It was recommended to me by a friend who is a Saint, so I think it holds truth for both sides. I was shocked at how little of what I had in my head about Joseph Smith was true, & enthralled with his real life story & the story of his church. I appreciated that Bushman is a Saint but he is also able to explain things very well in an academic, not purely faithful, manner (& he hasn't... more info
rock-solid biography:
Richard Bushman's Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling sets a new standard for biography of controversial characters. Don't philosophize, extrapolate, psychoanalyze, or dramatize. Let the subject and his contemporaries speak for themselves in the context of the known facts. The figure who emerges will be more compelling than any embellished hero, caricature, or enigma. This fine and accessible book delivers everything the inquisitive reader can hope for: a character study that expresses both the... more info
Inoculation of the Saints:
There is no question that Bushman has done the hard work of researching the life of Joseph Smith. Having read gobs of biographical material on the man, I still learned some important insights about in this book, and more importantly, about the change in "vision" the modern church has 200 years later with regard to their founding prophet and his teachings. Make no mistake--this is a good book, and I recommend it often. But there is a side to this book that warrants discussion, and I hope it gets it... more info
Excellent book:
I'm active in the LDS Church, and could see how this book might cause some people some concern, but if you recognize that Joseph Smith was a man, which Bushman does, it's very insightful and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Did not negatively affect my belief in the church or that Joseph Smith was who he claimed to be.
