Army Of Israel: Mormon Battalion Narratives [Paperback]

David Bigler (Editor), Will Bagley (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2000

Giving priority to previously unpublished documents, editors David Bigler and Will Bagley have compiled, introduced, and annotated dozens of firsthand accounts and other primary sources regarding the Mormon Battalion's march and subsequent adventures. These include such perspectives as the journal of teenager William Pace, letters from a few of the women associated with the battalion (some thirty wives accompanied their husbands), and military and government correspondence. These and the many other collected documents provide an expansive portrait and detailed record of a large part of the American West--including portions of what became Iowa, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah--and its inhabitants at a crucial juncture in the region's history, the late 1840s.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David L. Bigler was born in Provo, Utah, and served in the US Navy in WWII and Korean War. He graduated from the University of Utah and holds an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Southern Utah State College. He is the retired director of public affaris for US Steel. Since 1986 he has devoted full time to the study of Utah and western history. He lives with his wife in Roseville, California.

Will Bagley lives in Salt Lake City with his wife and two children. He attended Brigham Young University and is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Cruz. He serves as editor of the Arthur H. Clark Co. series Kingdom in the West: The Mormons and the American Frontier. The manuscript of his forthcoming study of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, The Blood of the Prophets, won a first place in the Utah Arts Council Original Writing Contest in 1998.

Product Details

• Paperback: 492 pages
• Publisher: Utah State University Press; 1st edition (August 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874212944
• ISBN-13: 978-0874212945
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,270,913 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superb effort, November 12, 2003

By 

Gnarly1 (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Army Of Israel: Mormon Battalion Narratives (Paperback)

David Bigler and Will Bagley are two of the nation's leading experts on the history of the Rocky Mountain Mormons.

They have combined to present an extremely readable history of the Mormon Battalion - an army unit that traversed thousands of difficult miles and never fired a shot in anger.

Extremely well researched, ARMY OF ISRAEL is must reading for those interested in the many facets of 19th Century Mormonism.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Several eye-witness sourced perspectives, February 9, 2001

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Army Of Israel: Mormon Battalion Narratives (Paperback)

David Bigler and Will Bagley successfully collaborated to bring together a series of previously unpublished documents, as well as some published ones, in an outstanding collection of firsthand accounts and other primary sources on and about the Mormon Battalion's epic 1846 U.S. - Mexican War march and their role in securing the Southwest from Mexican control and claiming the territory that would become the states of Iowa, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah -- thereby fulfilling the mandate inherent in the concept of "Manifest Destiny". Several eye-witness sourced perspectives are provided including the journal of teenager William Pace, letters from some of the women associated with the battalion; as well as military and government correspondence. Army Of Israel: Mormon Battalion Narratives is a superlatively presented and informative contribution to American history in general, and the role of a unique military command in particular.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars this is good history, October 6, 2000

By 

G. J. Graves "california history fan" (Auburn, Ca United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Army Of Israel: Mormon Battalion Narratives (Paperback)

From time to time, a historian will write a book, as opposed to an author writing history. And when TWO historians write a book, you get what Bigler and Bagley have created here. The entire series, "Forgotten Kingdom" is dynamite, we are fortunate to have these books available to us.