Kidnapped from That Land: The Government Raids on the Short Creek Polygamists (Publications in Mormon Studies) [Hardcover]

Martha Sonntag Bradley (Author)

Book Description

Series: Publications in Mormon Studies | Publication Date: November 1993

In the early morning hours of July 26, 1953, several hundred Arizona state officials and police officers moved into the polygamist community of Short Creek, Arizona, to serve warrants on thirty-six men and eighty-six women. Officials staging the raid believed they were rescuing the community’s 263 children from a life of bondage and immorality.

Kidnapped from that Land is the first book to bring together the story of the 1953 raid and two previous raids in 1935 and 1944. Martha Bradley tells the story with insight and compassion for the families that were fragmented by the arrests. She also deals with the complex legal issues that persist in both Arizona and Utah, where the practice of polygamy is a felony that is no longer prosecuted.

Kidnapped from that Land will appeal to those interested in the study of Mormon history, of polygamy, and of western regional and American social history.
 

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[Bradley’s] masterful treatment of Short Creek will not only become a standard reference for students of Mormon polygamy, but will also be appreciated by a larger audience as a much needed lesson on cross cultural understanding and religious tolerance."—Sunstone
 

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Martha Bradley is assistant professor of history at Brigham Young University.
 

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 260 pages
• Publisher: Univ of Utah Pr (T) (November 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874804159
• ISBN-13: 978-0874804157
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,715,505 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A sad commentary on majority interference with minorities..., May 5, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Seattle, Wa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kidnapped From That Land: The Government Raids on the Short Creek Polygamist (Paperback)

I found the book in a Utah bookstore the same weekend I first visited the town. We were staying with a family that we had business with. We were not aware the town is polygamous but were able to figure it out fairly quickly. Later we told the folks we had stayed with about the book and they had never heard of it. We loaned them our copy and one comment they made was the number of innaccuracies listed. None of them were particularly major but they were numerous. We were favorably impressed by the people we met. My wife visited there again last year and stayed for nearly two weeks. She says that the depiction of the community in the book really doesn't match what she saw during her stay. We did feel that the book didn't take a "mainline" Mormon viewpoint versus the community's minority viewpoint.

3 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent, April 29, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Kidnapped from That Land: The Government Raids on the Short Creek Polygamists (Publications in Mormon Studies) (Hardcover)

Very well researched. A valuableresearch tool for a very controversial and obscure subject