Customer Reviews

Assassination of a Michigan King: The Life of James Jesse Strang

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Mormonism's second prophet wasn't the famous Brigham Young -- he may have seized control of many of the Church's institutions, but he never claimed to be the "Prophet". That mantle was seized by the insteresting historic figure, James J. Strang, who led his portion of the Mormon Church from Nauvoo, Illinois, to Voree, Wisconsin, and then to Beaver Island, Michigan at the same time that Young was leading his branch to Utah.

Van Noord's book is a great biography of Strang which makes close use of Strang's journals, letters, books, and draws a great deal from the newspapers which Strang's church published. Strang's many successes both on Beaver Island and then also in the Michigan legislature, imply that he was quite a brilliant and eloquent character. The book leads you to wonder what might have happened had he not been assassinated.

The only problems with Van Noord's book are that he does not seem to be an expert in the field of Mormon history generally, and he has relied on informants in the modern Utah church -- the great rival of Strang's church -- for some of his information on Mormonism. Additionally, the biography definitely leaves you wanting a larger history of the Strangite church.

All in all, the book is an excellent read. I picked it up and nearly read it cover to cover uninterrupted, as I couldn't wait to find out what happened to Strang next.

I have done extensive study on the subject of Jas. Strang and his followers. I found this book and several others extremely fair-minded considering the controversies (as well as present day prejudices) surrounding this utopian experiment. I welcome other comments. My great-great grandfather was present at Strang's coronation on Beaver Island, Michigan.

This work is a fairly standard, straight-forward biography of King Strang. It is very well researched, documented, and foot noted. It would appear that Mr. Van Noord dug deeper into his reseach than most authors dealing with James Strang have in the past. The book enlightened me on several points regarding King Strang that I had previously read and Mr. Van Noord found to be incorrect. If you are interested in learning about a fascinating man and those around him this is the book. However it gives only a sparce and very typical Beaver Island history and does not touch on the legendary (and I believe, mythical) Mormon, Beaver Island treasure at all. If those items are your points of interest, look elsewhere.

I found this book to be well written and researched. James Jesse Strang is a unique character (A King no less!) in the history of Michigan. This book inspired me to visit Michigan's Beaver Island. As a compliment to this book I would also suggest reading Guardian of the Great Lakes The U.S. Paddle Frigate Michigan By: Mr. Bradley A. Rodgers.

I'm a relative of his and have recently become interested in learning about him. So please if you know about him tell me.