Recently, on my nightly bike ride through downtown Salt Lake City, I thought to myself, "none of this would be here if not for the scheme so cleverly played by con-man Joseph Smith." He created a movement that has had a huge impact on the United States and millions of people the world over. I immediately had a strong desire to truly understand who this man really was.
Does anyone have a suggestion for the definitive biography of Smith? Something studied and objective, yet not tainted by the bias of the modern COJCOLDS. I welcome any and all suggestions.
No Man Knows My History. Ms Brodie was David McKay's neice I believe, and had family access to the vault of information the church held on it's history. Her research is impeccable.
It's been a while since I read it however I believe a new edition was published right about 1970.
I once read an interview with her about the book's effect, where she talked about how the book really closed up access to information from the church headquarters.
If you want to know who Joeseph Smith was, this is the book. It remains one of the single biggest PR disasters for the LDS corporation. I say that because she points almost all of her research back to things Joeseph Smith wrote, or actual newspaper accounts of events etc. The footnotes alone are a treasure to behold.
One has a difficult time labeling writings of the prophet "Anti-Mormon"...