Kingdom of Nauvoo: The Rise and Fall of a Religious Empire on the American Frontier

A well-researched but readable account of a remarkable episode on the American frontier, the story of the rise and fall of the Mormon town of Nauvoo almost reads like a true crime account. And there was, by all accounts, plenty of criming to go around. The founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith, hit his peak in ambition and hubris in this period, expanding his extra-marital activities and political campaigns until both his marriage and relations with the state broke down. The author makes some very good observations how Mormon Nauvoo presaged some of the federalism questions that eventually would be put to the ultimate test during the American Civil War, and how 50+ years after the founding, Americans were still figuring out what this new nation would be.

Fascinating, well-written book which I recommend to anyone interested in 19th century American religious history. Although I had no pretensions to much prior knowledge of the subject, I learned a great deal about the political history of the US in the 1840s as well as about the LDS church of the time, with fairly extensive discussion of polygamy and race included.