Mormonism LIVE: 083: The Best Books for Diving into the Messiness of Mormonism

If one is finally at a place where they really want to understand both sides, really want to wrestle with their faith, what are the books that best introduce the believer to the complex history, the fallibility of prophets, and the trauma of Mormon influence? Bill and RFM seek to lay out a list of books that introduce the reader to a more full picture of Mormonism, of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and it leaders since that spring morning in 1820.

1. Fawn Brodie – No Man Knows my History
2. Richard Bushman – Rough Stone Rolling
3. D. Michael Quinn – Early Mormonism and the Magic World View
4. D. Michael Quinn – The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power
5. D. Michael Quinn – The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power
6. Greg Prince – Leonard Arrington and the Writing of Mormon History
7. Greg Prince – David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism
8. Paul Reeve – Religion of a Different Color: Race and the Mormon Struggle for Whiteness 
9. Devery Scott Anderson – Development of LDS Temple Worship
10. Todd Compton – In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith
11. Grant Palmer – An Insider’s View of Mormon Origins
12. Linda King Newell & Valeen Tippetts Avery – Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith
13. Charley Harrel – This is My Doctrine
14. Juanita Brooks – The Mountain Meadows Massacre
15. Carol Lynn Pearson – Goodbye I Love You
16. Greg Prince – Gay Rights and the Mormon Church: Intended Actions, Unintended Consequences
17. Eber D Howe – Mormonism Unveiled – Dan Vogel commentary
18. Robert Ritner—The Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri: A Complete Edition https://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Smith-Egyptian-Papyri-Complete/dp/1560852321
19. Robert Ritner—Paper—Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham— https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/Research_Archives/Translation%20and%20Historicity%20of%20the%20Book%20of%20Abraham%20final-2.pdf
    19. Jeremy Runnells—CES Letter
    https://cesletter.org/