A Short List of a Long Topic: Mormon History, 1820-2000
by Richard H. Cracroft

You'll want to add these classic books on Mormon history to your home library.

Every Mormon worth his or her salt (an historical allusion to the fact that Roman soldiers were paid in ounces of valuable salt) is an authority or at least a buff on some aspect of Mormon history. (Ask any missionary conducting tours at Church History sites: the Elder or Sister Tour Guide can not only tell the Mormon visitors by their underwear necklines, but also by their eager attempts to set the guide straight on "the way it really happened.") Mormon history is vital and relevant and exciting because is a remarkable record of both divine and human acts. The history of the Latter-day Saints parallels the U.S. history of the winning of the West, and both histories chronicle the great Westward Movement of people across the Atlantic to the American eastern seaboard, and inland to the Great Plains and out to the Rocky Mountains and beyond, making history as they traveled. Consequently, American and Mormon historians have plotted the history of the Mormon people in remarkable particulars, from their New England origins through the Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa periods, and the Western Exodus through the early and later pioneer eras, the early 20th Century, the Great Depression through World War II, and the late 20^th Century-or, from Joseph Smith's First Vision in 1820 right up through the recent (and full-circle) laying of the cornerstones of the Nauvoo Temple. The history of Mormonism comprises a rich and glorious saga.

There is, then, a plethora of fine books delving into Mormon history. This month I'm suggesting a handful of general histories that are important enough that you might wish to consider adding some of them to your personal libraries. Here goes:

 General Histories:

 --B.H. Roberts, A Comprehensive History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Century 1, 6 vols. (1912;1930;reprint,:BYU Press, 1965). First published in The Times and Seasons and The Millennial Star in 1842, during Joseph Smith's last years, and continued later in the Deseret News, this remains an indispensable source of LDS history. Then, choose one of the following:

 -James B. Allen and Glen M. Leonard, The Story of the Latter-day Saints (Deseret Book, 1992), an excellent one-volume chronological history. Or:

 --Leonard J. Arrington and Davis Bitton, The Mormon Experience: A History of the Latter-day Saints (Alfred A. Knopf, 1979)--another fine, one-volume history, which takes a more interpretive, topical approach. Or perhaps:

 -Dean Hughes' The Mormon Church: A Basic History--a very readable history of the Church for young adults, engagingly written by the author of the Children of the Promise series of historical novels.

 Other Important Period Histories:

 -Richard L. Bushman, Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism (UIllinois P, 1984). A prize-winning study of the early events leading to the organization of the Church, written by a faithful LDS scholar with a outstanding national reputation.

 -Leonard J. Arrington, Great Basin Kingdom: An Economic History of the Latter-day Saints, 1830-1900 (Harvard UP, 1958). This is an essential book for your library, by the late dean of Mormon historians. This book launched modern Mormon historical studies..

 -James B.. Allen, Ronald K. Esplin, and David J. Whittaker, Men with a Mission: The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the British Isles, 1837-1841 (Deseret Book, 1992). This is an important history of the Acts of the Apostles in founding the Church in Great Britain.

 -Thomas G. Alexander's Utah, The Right Place (Gibbs-Smith, 1996) is the "official centennial history" of the State of Utah, and a good read; as is . . .

 -Richard E. Bennett's Mormons at the Missouri, 1846-52: "And Should We Die"(UOklahoma P, 1987). A fine study of the temporary Mormon settlements along the Missouri River (Winter Quarters, etc.).

 -Or, what about Richard O. Cowan's The Church in the Twentieth Century (Bookcraft, 1985)? or . . . , or . . . . I sit here, restraining myself from listing at least two dozen fine histories which light up my bookshelf and various periods and sub-periods of Mormon and Utah, American and Canadian Western history. But, for our purposes of listing some general LDS histories for your home libraries, let this handful wet your bibliophilic whistles. Add your selections to the list of biographies (November) and the works of Joseph Smith (October) which you may wish to add to your library, and you'll have a Christmas Wish List that you can stealthily drop at strategic places-on pillows, car seats, in mail boxes, and at that seat of all learning, the bathroom. But you'll need to hurry; "the time is far spent, there is little remaining-until Christmas, that is.

 Next month, I plan to stick my neck out further by listing the "20 Best English Novels Which Every Well-Read Person Must Have Read (and Own) In Order to be Admitted to the Celestial Kingdom." If you have any "Musts" for such a list, e-mail me. In February, I'll be doing the same audacious thing for the "20 Best American Novels"-if I survive the January Furor! And in March, how about "The 20 Best Religious Novels of All Time"? (Ben-Hur, The Robe, etc.) In the meantime, have a Merry Christmas-usually defined as snuggling up with a good book and a cuppa Postum on a cold winter's evening!

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Richard H. Cracroft is Nan Osmond Grass Professor in English at BYU, where he has taught American Literature and Mormon Literature since 1963 and where he has served as department chair, dean of the College of Humanities, as coordinator of American Studies and, presently, as director of the Center for the Studies of Christian Values in Literature. He is married to Janice Alger Cracroft and they are the parents of two sons and a daughter and grandparents to (currently) six tykes. Dr. Cracroft is the author of several books and dozens of articles which have appeared in national and international journals; his anthology, edited with Neal E. Lambert, A Believing People: The Literature of the Latter-day Saints (1974;1979), is the first anthology of Mormon literature, and is being reprinted by Liahona. Dr. Cracroft, who is currently serving as bishop of BYU 203rd Ward (Marrieds), has been a missionary (Swiss-Austrian), bishop (Provo Bonneville Ward), stake president (Provo Utah East Stake), mission president (Switzerland Zurich), and branch president (Provo MTC). He is impatiently and 'umbly awaiting translation but is afraid it has been hung up in Correlation. Richard Cracroft can be reached online by sending email to myhomelibrary@meridianmagazine.com.