Kingdom of Nauvoo

Benjamin E. Park's concise and engaging narrative of this Mormon 'empire' situates it firmly in the context of American political and social development, western expansion, and religious foment, in the process revealing the ways in which the early Church of Jesus Christ was shaped by the forces transforming the nation while also posing a challenge to America's emerging democratic and capitalist order. -- Amy S. Greenberg, George Winfree Professor of American History and Women's Studies, Pennsylvania State University, and author of A Wicked War Mormon Nauvoo represents one of the most audacious and consequential religious experiments in US history. Using newly available sources from the men and women who staked their lives to build a new world and redeem the nation, Benjamin E. Park explores the singular interpretation of democracy and political power nourished briefly in the swampy soils of the Mississippi. This engaging study does not shy away from the controversies, the failures, and the deeply held faith that mark an astonishing moment in our past. -- Laurie Maffly-Kipp, Archer Alexander Distinguished Professor, Washington University in St. Louis, and author of Setting Down the Sacred Past Benjamin E. Park's Kingdom of Nauvoo tells the story of the city the Mormons built in Illinois before crossing the plains to Utah. Making sound use of newly available documents, Park's story exemplifies the new Mormon history at its best. The author demonstrates the importance of women-including the prophet's first wife, Emma Smith-in the shaping of Mormon history. -- Daniel Walker Howe, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of What Hath God Wrought Kingdom of Nauvoo is a fascinating account of Joseph Smith's attempt to build a 'beautiful city' for adherents to the new religion he founded: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Benjamin E. Park's meticulously researched and gracefully written work provides a rich picture, not only of early Mormonism, but of the Jacksonian era in which the movement was born. -- Annette Gordon-Reed, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Hemingses of Monticello Benjamin E. Park creates a startling picture of Nauvoo, the church, and the nation that all historians of the period will have to grapple with. -- Richard Bushman, professor emeritus of history, Columbia University, and author of Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling [Park] fashions a dense, exciting, and absorbing narrative of the most consequential and dramatic movement to dissent against and secede from the Constitutional republic before the Civil War. -- Ray Olson, Booklist [starred review] [An] enjoyable and fastidiously researched work.... Park, who was given extensive access to the Mormon Church's archives, entertainingly establishes this little-known Mormon settlement's proper place within the formative years of the Illinois and Missouri frontier. -- Publishers Weekly Vigorous study of the early Mormon settlement in Illinois, linking its founding to a rising anti-democratic tradition... A welcome contribution to American religious and political history. -- Kirkus Reviews