A Tale of Utopian Dreamers, Frontier Schemers, True Believers, False Prophets, and the Murder of an American Monarch
Hardcover, 416 pages
Published July 14, 2020 by Little, Brown and Company.
A history of the life and times of James Strang, a 'prophet' who tried to replace Mormon leader Joseph Smith one week after his death.
It's an interesting read, more for the history of the mid-19th Century and its bizarre parallels with early 21st Century America. Newspapers were the social media of the time and James Strang took full advantage of creating his story as a lawyer, legislator, prophet, pirate, and 'King of Heaven and Earth'.
The writing wasn't as good as I hoped, but the story is pretty amazing.
Quick impressions: Overall, I really liked this book. It was an interesting read about a chapter of United States history I do not know about until now. Though it can feel a bit lengthy in the middle-- the pace slows a bit-- all in all it is a good read. I am sure with a bit of editing this story could be a movie on one of the streaming services.
(full review with additional reading notes on my blog.)
