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American Crucifixion: The Murder of Joseph Smith and the Fate of the Mormon Church Kindle Edition

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Alex Beam (Author)
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118 customer reviews
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Length: 354 pages Word Wise: Enabled
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Product Details

  • File Size: 2196 KB
  • Print Length: 354 pages
  • Publisher: PublicAffairs; First Trade Paper Edition edition (April 22, 2014)
  • Publication Date: April 22, 2014
  • Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B00GL9TP0K
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
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  • Word Wise: Enabled
  • Lending: Not Enabled
  • Enhanced Typesetting: Not Enabled
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #301,398 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

110 of 122 people found the following review helpful
A Fine Work of Popular History
By Eric F. Facer on April 29, 2014
Format: Hardcover
I'll begin with disclosing my religious affiliation: I am a member of the Mormon Church.

I quite enjoyed "Mormon Crucifixion." It was well written and succeeded in holding my attention to the very end. And though this plot of ground has already been plowed by others, I learned some new things about this episode in American history.

Overall, I thought Mr. Beam's account of the assassination of Joseph and Hyrum Smith was fair and balanced. Though the spark that spawned the conflagration was Joseph's ill-advised decision to destroy the Nauvoo Expositor, Mr. Beam makes it clear that this serious error in judgment pales by comparison to the pusillanimous behavior of Governor Ford and the complicity of local officials and law enforcement in the murders. And the subsequent trial of the murderers was a joke, though not without precedent in the era of frontier justice.

I do feel, however, that some of Mr. Beam's characterizations of Joseph's actions were gratuitous and bordered on being sensationalistic. He also should have done a better job, I think, of questioning the reliability of some of his sources, especially those that were second-hand accounts composed years after the fact. In addition, I wish he had acknowledged the difficulty of accurately assessing the polygamous conduct of Joseph and others since the historical record frequently devolves into "he said/she said." Nevertheless, the evidence that such behavior occurred and on a pervasive scale is both compelling and disturbing.

I know that some members of my faith will accuse Mr. Beam of revisionist history. Sadly, much of the history taught within the Mormon Church is in need of serious revision. The Church's last prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley, said "We have nothing to hide.Read more ›
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23 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Solid history that reads like a detective story
By James Denny on May 19, 2014
Format: Hardcover
"American Crucifixion" is well-grounded in its facts but reads more like a detective story or murder mystery. It's impossible to put down.

The Mormon church, aka: "The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints," founder and "Prophet," Joseph Smith and his older brother Hyrum, the "Patriarch," were murdered in the Carthage, Illinois jail while awaiting trial. That they should have been murdered by an unruly mob should come as no surprise. The large Mormon community in Nauvoo (the second largest city in Illinois at the time) was not popular with the "Old Settlers." The events and prelude to their murder are well documented. What author Alex Beam has done is to describe the history in such a way that people and events are enriched at every step along the way.

The issue of polygamy as "revealed" to the Prophet is clearly the most central issue in the persecution of the Nauvoo-era Mormon community. Well beyond his twentieth and thirtyith plural marriage, (no one knows for sure how many), Smith continued to deny what he had done to the larger community, to most of his Mormon followers, even to his first wife, Emma who continued to stand by him. His entrusted his secret sealings to only a few of the most senior Mormons, "Apostles," as several of them would go on to embrace plural marriage themselves, or at least, not oppose it.

Beam provides a full post-murder history of the trial of Joseph and Hyrum's murderers. He goes on to give a history of the incredibly ineffectual Illinois Governor Ford under whose administration the murders occurred, as well as many other principals. In the final chapters, Beam explains Brigam Young's success in taking over the Saints, wresting church authority from the remaining members of the Smith family, especially Young's fall-out with Joseph's wife Emma and Joseph's eldest son, Josephy Smith III.
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84 of 111 people found the following review helpful
A skillful remix of the best damning bits about Joseph Smith
By Margaret C. Stout on April 25, 2014
Format: Hardcover
On April 27, 2014, Greg Prince hosted a Study Group at his home featuring Alex Beam, author of American Crucifixion, a book recounting many events associated with the life, death, and legacy of Joseph Smith. In preparation, my husband and I purchased the book. I originally gave this book a 3-star rating, but after hearing Mr. Beam speak, I decided it was worth a four-star rating.

As Alex Beam related, he was approached out of the blue to write this book. Alex is not Mormon, nor did he have any particular background in Mormon Studies. But Alex is good at writing gripping trade books, the kind of books that take dusty history and make it accessible to general audiences.

Non-Mormon audiences will be surprised at how relatively pro-Mormon this book is. Alex's editor was actually a bit miffed that it was so sympathetic. Mormon audiences will typically feel like this book is a hatchet job.

Though I was somewhat aware of this book due to the Study Group invite, someone forwarded a link to an except from Alex Beam's book posted on Salon. I suppose they thought that I would rise up from my leisurely repose and contradict Mr. Beam.

As I read the excerpt, which jams polygamy-related stories in a manner admitting only one interpretation (i.e., that Joseph was a sex-crazed maniac), I found nothing that isn't common knowledge. There is nothing in that excerpt that asserts anything new. I've had the leisure to read all the information, and find it less damning that portrayed in Alex Beam's book. But there are certainly reputable scholars who agree with Alex's portrayal, so I can believe Alex didn't intend this chapter to be distorted.

I decided I should scan the entire book, to be prepared for Sunday.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

An excellent unbiased study into the very controversial death of a ...

An excellent unbiased study into the very controversial death of a very polarizing figure in history. Alex Beam is a brilliant writer .... Read more

Published 23 days ago by Robert Innes
Although Beam is not a historian and uses mainly secondary ...

Although Beam is not a historian and uses mainly secondary sources for this book, I found it revealing on this important part of Mormon and nineteenth century American history. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Pacer
American Crucifixion: The Murder of Joseph Smith

Fascinating account of Joseph Smith's life and the early development of the Mormon Church. At times, it was disturbing and did not leave me with a positive view of the Mormon... Read more

Published 1 month ago by DuMondbj
Interesting reading

Well written and seemingly well researched. I enjoyed the narrative but at times was exasperated with the author's tendency to relate the mythology of the Mormon story without... Read more

Published 2 months ago by Michael Cook
A very good book if the subject or Joseph Smith or the ...

A very good book if the subject or Joseph Smith or the Mormon Church interests you. I enjoyed the story and the history.

Published 3 months ago by Peter Davis
I listened to this book on tape. Then I ...

I listened to this book on tape. Then I bought a copy so I could study it in more detail.

Published 4 months ago by John M. Leonard
The final months of Joseph Smith's life---like you're there

I've read a lot of books about Joseph Smith. This one was the most fun to read because it was written in a style that brought the characters and events to life. Read more

Published 5 months ago by Steve Holbrook
Thoroughly enjoyed this book.

By focusing in on the final days of Joseph Smith's life the amount of detail that was packed into this narrative was fascinating. I learned lots of interesting little tidbits.

Published 5 months ago by Scott Duke
New Historical insights: Fairly (for the most part) presented

Well written. Easy to read. Well researched. But, with some anti-Mormon bias. However, there were times when I wondered if the anti slant was there to cover up the fact that the... Read more

Published 5 months ago by William J. Boswell Jr.
Mildly.disappointing

I don't know if the narrative needed to be stronger and less digressive, or if the subject matter just wasn't as compelling as I expected.

Published 6 months ago by Kindle Customer

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