Brigham Young: American Moses [Paperback]

Leonard J. Arrington (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Gives readers as good a picture as they are likely to get of the man who assumed leadership of the major part of the Mormon Church when Joseph Smith was assassinated in 1844, led its members west, and built a church empire in Utah." -- New York Times Book Review

Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press (April 1, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252012968
• ISBN-13: 978-0252012969
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #748,602 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Book About Brigham Young, July 27, 2000

By 

R. W. Rasband (Heber City, UT) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Brigham Young: American Moses (Paperback)

This book is the summing-up of Leonard Arrington's great career as the father of the New Mormon History, that renaissance of candor during the '60's and '70's. He had full access to the massive church archives in Salt Lake by virtue of his appointment as Church Historian, something no other biographer of Brigham could get. He used this access, his training as one of America's finest historians, and his own moderate yet faithful temprament to produce the definitive book on Brigham--one that could satisfy the strictest canons of his profession and also could be faithful to his religious tradition. Arrington wrote with loving yet open eyes, and this book belongs on the shelf of everyone who enjoys Western Americana.

23 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's a pity more biographies like this don't exist., August 7, 2002

By 

bixodoido (Utah, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brigham Young: American Moses (Paperback)

Brigham Young was undoubtedly one of the most intriguing leaders of the 19th century. There exist many biographies on him, most of which are not worth your time. This book, however, is a notable exception. Possessing a talent for objectivity that is all too rare in biographical literature, and much less when religion or personal values are involved, Arrington presents the story of the life of Brigham Young in a real sense. He achieves what so many cannot--the ability to evaluate the man in an unbiased way and still be true to his beliefs (Arrington was a member of the Mormon church). The author does a wonderful job of presenting Young as a human being, complete with faults and failures. In so doing, however, the dignity and majesty of his character are in no way compromised. The facts and events of his life are presented as they really occurred, without the taint of bias or speculation, and should be informative and unoffensive to Mormon and non-Mormon alike. For a true in-depth look in the life of this modern Moses, this book is definitely worth your time.

24 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very safe biography, July 9, 2003

By 

lordhoot "lordhoot" (Anchorage, Alaska USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brigham Young: American Moses (Paperback)

This biography proves to be a very informative life account of one of the great leaders of the LDS as well as one of the prime movers of the American West. But Leonard Arrington avoids the major controversies that surrounded Brigham Young, exhorting on his virtures rather then his faults. While that does not make a bad biography, it doesn't show us the complete man. Arrington make it clear that Young was the right man for the right job at the right moment in history. Without his leadership, intelligence and gusto, the Mormon church probably won't have survived the death of Joseph Smith, its founder. Arrington revealed how talented, how skilled and how devoted Young was to his church and how he put all he had into it. But what Arrington failed to get into, was some of Young's failings which must be just as important as his accomplishments. Arrington played into the traditional Mormon defense on Mountain Meadow Massacre, doesn't question Young's devotion to plural marriages which often rallied the rest of the nation against the Mormons and Young's racist attitudes - especically toward blacks that the LDS Church didn't resolved until the 1970s. Although these are just examples, they presented long term problems that Young left behind and they should have been address by the author. But overall, its still a good biography and worth the effort in reading it and understanding the basic essence of the man.