Customer Reviews

Joseph Smith (Penguin Lives Biographies)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Robert Remini is the best historian of the Jacksonian era. His previous efforts have focused on the political leaders, three volumes on Jackson himself, one on Clay, and one on Webster, another on Van Buren. He has also examined whole hosts of smaller issues related to this period. He is in full command of the subject matter related to this period.

Whoever had the idea of assigning Remini to write on Joseph Smith should get an award. For he is a novel and interesting choice. Usually books on religious leaders are written by people steeped in theory and dogma. It is far better to have Smith's biography written by one who can place his ideas within their proper context. Remini knows and understands the particulars of the "Second Great Awakening" and the various religious and intellectual trends that marked the period of roughly 1812-1840. In doing so, he is able to explain much.

Remini shyes away from the question of whether or not Smith was was a prophet or con man and leaves the reader to make up his own mind about this, in doing so he steers a path between those who write books of praise about the Morman church's founders and those who criticize it.

This book is an outstanding addition to the Penguin Brief Lives series and yet another triumph for the foremost historian of age of Jackson.

This short biography of the man now considered "My Joseph" by author Robert Remini, covering the life and death of the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith, is a well-researched, even-handed and concise examination of the life of a unique and great American. Drawing from sources as far apart as Joseph Smith's Personal Writings and John C. Bennett's Expose of Joe Smith and Mormonism, from scholars across the spectrum such as Fawn Brodie, Richard Bushman and Donna Hill, Remini has synthesized the important historical, biographical and often controversial information to be found about the life of Joseph Smith. The work is brief, as necessitated by the series, and can easily be read in one sitting.
Divided into nine chapters, Remini first introduces the reader to the American political and cultural context of the early 19th century, as the extent, fanaticism and individual, similar occurences to those of Smith during the Second Great Awakening are not a well-known part of his story. Indeed, Mormon readers well versed in the subject matter may find these interjections scattered throughout the book some of the most interesting and challenging material. Here and throughout the rest of the work Remini casually implies that Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon and much of what has become the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was a product of timing, a product of the unique American environment during the nation's infancy. Tracing and lightly touching Smith's ancestry, the author mentions episodes from Smith's adolescence he believes helped shape the character and disposition of later years. Smith's angelic and divine visitations are covered, along with the origins of the Book of Mormon and the beginnings of the Church. The reader is present during the fantastic events of the Church in Kirtland and its near subsequent collapse, for the wars with the old settlers of Missouri and during the flourishing, while controversial, period of Nauvoo and polygamy. The biography closes examining and ultimately denouncing the assassination of Joseph Smith, not as a slain prophet, consistent with the author's non-partisan stance, but as a great American, a victim of a society that bordered on the fringe of lawlessness.

As already mentioned, the book is even-handed and mostly accurate, the occasional detail, a misquotation from the Book of Mormon, for example, excusable for a reputable scholar undertaking this kind of endeavor. Mormons will disagree with some observations while non-Mormons will others. Not uncommon verbage found throughout the book often reads, "Mormons support or agree...while critics point out..." and vice-versa. All readers will find an entreating and page-turning presentation of Joseph Smith the man, innovator, prophet, politician, leader, family man, military leader and American.

"Smith admitted that some accused him of 'pretending to be a Savior, a worker of miracles, etc. All this is false...He is but a man, he said; a plain, untutored man, seeking what he should do to be saved.'"

To readers interested in a similarly unbiased, scholarly appraisal of the Book of Mormon, I would suggest the recent book By the Hand of Mormon by Terryl Givens, a professor of English at the University of Virginia. While Joseph Smith reads like an artistic biography, By the Hand of Mormon scrutinizes the possible origins of the Book of Mormon, internal and external evidences of its veracity, arguments on both sides of the divide and other topics.

This is a very good short biography by a great historian. Remini is very fair in his interpretation of Joseph Smith. Remini basically tells the story of Joseph Smith as Joseph Smith himself told it. Remini being an expert on the period that Smith was born in makes his opinions of what influenced Smith very convincing. The only reason I rate this only a four star is it is very short and leaves out a lot of details. But if all your looking for is basic knowledge on the life of Joseph Smith I highly recommend this book. For a more detailed book on his life I would recommend "Joseph Smith the First Mormon" by Donna Hill as Remini himself recommends in his bibliography. Currently there are other biographies being worked on about Joseph Smith which will further our understanding of his complex life.

This new volume in the excellent "Penguin Lives" series of short biographies represents a new level of achievement in the field of studies about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly known as the Mormons.) Remini is perhaps the leading American scholar on Jacksonian America. He is not a Mormon, but he sees the importance of that people to a larger understanding of American culture. This book is exceptional. Remini is an elegantly plain writer whose prose has obviously been influenced by the sturdy American language of the earlier times to which he has devoted his professional life. The result is an unusually clear, concise and readable account.

Remini has also mastered the very latest and best of Mormon scholarship, rather than depending on the same old shopworn anti-Mormon cliches. And he is a believer in the old-fashioned virtue of objectivity. He can get inside the subjective view of Mormons while retaining the critical intelligence to depict how the same story looks from the outside. This double view produces a portrait of remarkable texture, feel, and resonance. Remini does not attack Smith as a fraud, psychotic, or criminal. Rather he sees the prophet as a not unrepresentative example of his fiercely religious era (and a "decent man.") Smith's story still has powerful appeal to Mormons as myth and epic, and Remini ably conveys this to the reader. It's an amazing story. As the prophet himself said, if it weren't true, no one (including himself) would have believed it could really happen.

Remini puts the Mormons squarely at the heart of American culture. Like Harold Bloom, he sees the Saints as quintessentially American. Of course, this approach can be overdone. The is much in Mormon culture that has echoes of other ancient traditions, as well as much that is absolutely modern. But there would be no Mormonism without America. The new republic was essential for the birth of the new movement. If you are curious about Joseph Smith and the Mormons, this is a great place to start reading.

As a Latter-day Saint, I found little new or interesting in Remini's biography. He covers the main points in much the same way you will find in numerous Mormon-authored bios, articles, and pamphlets. The casual student of Mormonism, however, will find a largely balanced, fair sketch of the Prophet's life--non-Mormons in particular may wish to pick this up. Remini, not a Mormon himself, treats his subject with respect, and for the most part allows the reader to decide for herself whether the Prophet's claims were true.

The primary angle Remini offers is his analysis of Joseph Smith as a product of his own time. For example, Remini introduces the Prophet's revelatory abilities by discussing how visions, seer stones, etc. were common in the early 1800s, and Remini finds many American ideals in the Book of Mormon. This is an interesting angle, but in my view fell a little short because Remini largely fails to examine other possible influences on the Prophet's work and doctrines: for example, the presence of Hebraistic language structure in the Book of Mormon. Remini becomes subjective at times, seemingly violating his own prefatory promise, that he would let the Prophet speak for himself.

Robert Remini's book about the Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. is highly respectful of the religion and the Prophet himself. His language is such, that not at any time does he fall victim to the negative and often inaccurate reports of those who are not happy with the LDS Church. Not a single time, does he say, that the Prophet's words are not true.

The beauty of Remini's book is that in 200 pages, he wrote a fast reading biography, that in essence overlays societal history side by side, with the history of Joseph Smith, Jr. and the creation of the LDS Church.

The long journeys, the hardships, the discrimination and the attempted exterminations are all validated and told with what appears to be historical accuracy. The point of Mr. Remini's book is not glorification, but truly accurate history. The author relied very heavily on the writings of Joseph Smith, Jr. and the LDS Church for his information. He also relied on hundreds of other sources, listed in his Bibliography.

For a fair and unbiased and quick reading understanding of the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr., I have not read a better book. This book is especially recommended to those interested in comparative religion.

Robert V. Remini wrote what I can only considered as a very unbiased and objective account of life of Joseph Smith who founded the Church of Latter-Day Saints, known as the "Mormons". In what can be considered as a very short book, Remini make no judgement on the faith that Smith founded. He write with certain level of clarity and fairness on the actions and purposefullness of Joseph Smith, as a product of his environment, his society and world which surrounds him.

The book doesn't try to justified or damned Joseph Smith as a religious leader who founded a new faith in this nation, but tried to accessed him as a man of his time. Well researched, nicely written and fast reading material, I think this would be a great introductary biography on Joseph Smith for anyone who might be interested.

If I had a singular gripe, it was that it was too short. I wished Remini would have done a full scale biography on Joseph Smith in details. Maybe the author can write one on Brigham Young who definitely needs a biography that don't praised or condemned him excessively.

I just want to leave this short and sweet (just like the book)... The book was great. I couldn't put it down.
I really appreciated the author's distant approach in laying forth the facts. He himself is not mormon, but leaves the reader to interpret the details presented as so desired... Now go read it! :)

The author bends over backwards to be nice to his subject. Most good biographies are more balanced than this one so we can learn more about the man.

Why was this book written? Did Mr. Remini uncover some startling new documents by or about Joseph Smith? Did he come up with a radical new interpretation of the life and continuing influence of Joseph Smith? Did he have anything to tell us that hasn't been said before? Or was this just a venture to make some pocket money from the well-known name of Robert Remini? I vote for the latter explanation.

If one really wanted to read an in-depth, perceptive biography of Joseph Smith, they should read Fawn Brodie's "No Man Knows My History." If they didn't have the time to devote to a full-length bio, they would even benefit from reading the wikipedia entry on Smith, which is both shorter than Remini's book and yet more informative, as it contains most of the pertinent facts, alongside stark criticism and links to more detailed studies of the individual controversies. While Remini's study is indeed serviceable, it doesn't even contain an index, is necessarily superficial because of its length and seems padded with attempts to shoehorn the author's hobbyhorses- Jacksonian politics and the Second Great Awakening- into a life of Joseph Smith. My advice is not to waste your time. Read Fawn Brodie's book, or go on the internet.