Customer Reviews

The Kingdom or Nothing: The Life of John Taylor, Militant Mormon

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Sam Taylor's vision of his grandfather's life is thought-provoking and literal; at times, one begins to wonder if John Taylor was not himself speaking through the mind of his progeny. As a reader I found the text both detailed in a myriad of descriptives, albiet dry and slow. Taylor tends to drag on and on about the life of John Taylor...at times, his tale reflects the beaming enthusiasm only a grandchild could bear.

John Taylor, third president of the Mormon church, was known for the enigmatic way he took the reins after the death of Brigham Young, leading both his church, and his family, through the earliest days of their settlement of Utah. As a non-Mormon, I found the story appealing, as chapter after chapter led me through the daily travails of this proud people. Many see Mormons as headstrong, a sense of arrogance leading their way to the "True and only path of God". After reading this narrative, one can easily see why any Mormon would have reason to be proud.

Anyone researching the Church should read this book. Taylor not only covers his grandfather's life, but also delves into Mormon scripture and doctrine, painting a glorious portrait of a people persecuted for their beliefs, and a people willing at once to die and kill in the name of God.

Samuel Woolley Taylor's "The Kingdom or Nothing" is a brilliant and irreplaceable work of biography and Mormon scholarship. It is painstaking in its completeness, suspenseful, entertaining and enlightening in examining the life of one of the most controversial presidents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Taylor places John Taylor in the context of his time and beliefs, revealing his relationships with Joseph Smith, Brigham Young and other more well-known figures in Church history. This book also covers his substantial role in creating and harmonizing nascent Mormon theology, and his contested support for polygamy in Utah, even against the federal government and the constant threat of arrest and imprisonment or worse. It is fascinating and extremely well written.