I'm curious about which resources about the LDS church or its history you have found to be particularly helpful.

For me, it was "No Man Knows My History" (which I read in 1995) and "The Mormon Mirage" (which I read this week).

Insider's Guide to Mormon Origins
In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith
Losing a Lost Tribe
Mormon Enigma

An Insider's View of Mormon Origins, by Grant Palmer:

http://www.amazon.com/Insiders-View-Mormon-Origins/dp/1560851570

It depends on the person's interest

The Keystone of Mormonism
An Insiders view of Mormon Origins
Basic introductory books

Mormon America
A good overview for an interested nonmormon

Farewell to Eden
Losing a Lost Tribe
A scientific review of Mormon scripture and belief

The Bible Unearthed
Brings into question the veracity of Judaism and Christianity as a whole

The Mormon Murders
A book on Hoffman - the book that caused my brother to leave the church.

Studies of the Book of Mormon
This shows that leadership has known the weaknesses for at least 80 years

Early Mormonism and the Magic World View
Probably the book that influenced me the most.

At this point I have a very extensive library. IMO these are the introductory books, along with those mentioned by other posters.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/10/2011 07:45PM by Jim Huston.

was one of my favorites, hands down. I also liked Devil's Gate, An Insider's Guide to Mormon Origins and if you like really in depth stuff, Early Mormonism and the Magic World View.

*Mormonism: Shadow or Reality or *The Changing World of Mormonism by Jerald & Sandra Tanner. Hands down the BEST if they can read it all.

*An Insider's View of Mormon Origins, by Grant Palmer:

There are many other great books out there like the ones below, but they are focused on a particular topic and don't hit all the major problems of Mormonism.

Folk Magic/Occultism:

*Early Mormonism and the Magic World View

Joseph Smith, Church History & Changes:

*The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power
*The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power
*Power From On High: The Development of Mormon Priesthood
*Joseph Smith: The First Mormon
*Joseph Smith: The Making of a Prophet
*The New Mormon History: Revisionist Essays on the Past
*The Prophet Puzzle: Interpretive Essays on Joseph Smith
*Mormon Mavericks: Essays on Dissenters

Temple:

*The Mysteries of Godliness: A History of Mormon Temple Worship

Polygamy:

*In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith
*Nauvoo Polygamy: “… but we called it celestial marriage”
*Mormon Polygamy: A History

Doctrine/Teachings:

*Line Upon Line: Essays on Mormon Doctrine

Book of Mormon:

*New Approaches to the Book of Mormon:Explorations in Critical Methodology
*American Apocrypha: Essays on the Book of Mormon
*Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church
*Quest for the Gold Plates: Thomas Stuart Ferguson’s *Archaeological Search for the Book of Mormon

Book of Abraham:

*By His Own Hand Upon Papyrus: A New Look at the Joseph Smith Papyri

Jim Huston's list is excellent and I would recommend any of his titles. Allow me to add a few of my own. I am of the opinion that some of the best books for demolishing Mormonism are books that do not "attack" it directly. By not singling out the religion per se, these books cannot be accused of being "ant-Mormon". Having said that, here are a few of my recommendations.

"Guns, Germs and Steel" by Jared Diamond, details life in the Americas before Columbus.

"1491" by Charles Mann, similar to Diamond's book.

"DNA & Tradition" by Rabbi Yaakov Kleiman, a great companion to "Losing a Lost Tribe".

"Religion Explained" by Pascal Boyer and "The Supernatural and Natural Selection" by Steadman and Palmer, two books that demolish all religion.

And read everything you can by Bart Ehrman if you don't mind demolishing Christianity along with Mormonism.

Good reading to you!