A history of what became a romantic

legend about a martyred prophet, a lost city, and religious persecution,

this volume tells the story of Nauvoo, the early Mormon Church, and the

temporal life of Joseph Smith. Nauvoo (1839-46) was a critical period in

Mormon history. The climax of Smith's career and the start of Brigham Young's,

it was here that Utah really had it's beginnings and that the pattern of

Mormon society in the West was laid.

"...the quality and quantity of research is commendable... an excellent

contribution to American mid-western history and to Mormoniana in general."



-- Journal of American History