Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism – Richard Lyman Bushman – 2 Stars

Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism – Richard Lyman Bushman – 2 Stars

Title: Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism

Author: Richard Lyman Bushman

Publisher: University of Illinois Press

Year: Hardcover 1984, Paperback 1987

Rating:  2 Stars

Price and Purchasing Options: This book had fairly good distribution, and has been out a while.  That means that you can usually find it in second hand options at Deseret Industries, once in a while, but regularly on eBay for a couple of dollars.  For those who want a new copy they are available in soft cover at Amazon for less than $15.

Review: Before we make assumptions with the 2 Star review – hear me out!

At the time of this publication this was an important book.  It was a critical and, at the time, accurate to the updated research on Joseph Smith’s early years.  It won a lot of awards, and it should have.  It is a great text, and a great contribution to the LDS literature. 

For the most part it only covers the very beginnings of Mormonism, and the early life of Joseph Smith.  You will not cover much of the New York ending years, or any of the Kirtland era or Nauvoo.  This is literally only about the beginnings.

I enjoy this book, and in it’s time is was great.  The operative words there are “in it’s time.”

The two star rating is in relation to today! 

In recent years Richard Bushman has published a more accurate and updated text that is much more comprehensive and thorough of the entire life of Joseph Smith, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling.  Within that text, he readily admits that he pretty much takes this text and include the bulk of it as the first few chapters of he more recent work.  In today’s light “The Beginnings of Mormonism” is redundant to Bushman’s greater work “Rough Stone Rolling,” as it includes that text and add much more.

In that light, the book isn’t as valuable today, as it was when it was first printed.  This is not to say that the content is poor, it is to say it is not as necessary, and that it is not as accurate as the modern publication of Bushman.  He readily admits to using this text in his more recent work, as well as updating things that in more recent research were wrong or needed correcting or clarification.

With that being said, I would recommend this text is read, but I would rather recommend the body of this text was read in Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling rather than Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism.

Suggestions:  Go a head and pass on this, but if you are interested pick up Rough Stone Rolling instead.

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Review #35

Tags: 2 Stars, Historical Biography, Joseph Smith (topic), Richard L Bushman, Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism, LDS Book Review, Ryan Daley