About the Book
Until his death in 1877, Brigham Young guided the religious, economic, and political life of the Mormon community, whose settlements spread throughout the West and provoked a profound political, legal, and even military confrontation with the American nation. Young first met Thomas L. Kane on the plains of western Iowa in 1846. Young came to rely on Kane, 21 years his junior, as his most trusted outside adviser, making Kane the most important non-Mormon in the history of the Church. In return, no one influenced the direction of Kane's life more than Young. The letters exchanged by the two offer crucial insights into Young's personal life and views as well as his actions as a political and religious leader. The Prophet and the Reformer offers a complete reproduction of the surviving letters between the Mormon prophet and the Philadelphia reformer. The correspondence reveals the strategies of the Latter-day Saints in relating to American culture and government during these crucial years when the "Mormon Question" was a major political, cultural, and legal issue. The letters also shed important light on the largely forgotten "Utah War" of 1857-58, triggered when President James Buchanan dispatched a military expedition to ensure federal supremacy in Utah and replace Young with a non-Mormon governor. This annotated collection of their correspondence reveals a great deal about these two remarkable men, while also providing crucial insight into nineteenth-century Mormonism and the historical moment in which the movement developed.
About the Author :
Matthew J. Grow is director of publications for the Church Historical Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and a general editor of the Joseph Smith Papers. His first two books, "Liberty to the Downtrodden": Thomas L. Kane, Romantic Reformer and Parley P. Pratt: The Apostle Paul of Mormonism (with Terryl L. Givens), have both received a Best Book of the Year award from the Mormon History Association. Ronald W. Walker has lived the past thirty-five years in Salt Lake City, Utah. He is Professor Emeritus of History at Brigham Young University and is the award-winning author or co-author of more than five dozen scholarly articles and seven books.
Review :
"The Prophet and the Reformer is a valuable compilation of correspondence coming out of the nineteenth-century West. This book provides a unique understanding of the lives, characteristics, and friendship of two prominent men, as well as the life and times in which they lived. The world of Latter-day Saint documentary history is enhanced by this work, as The Prophet and the Reformer is the first publication to bring all the extant Young and Kane correspondence together in one place."--BYU Studies Quarterly
"Superb research skills, felicitous writing, and sound editorial judgment...Readers from a wide range of backgrounds will benefit, not just professional historians and Latter-day Saints....A tour de force"--The Journal of Mormon History
"Two intriguing characters, Brigham Young and Thomas Kane, in their own words; Mormons under pressure from the United States army; the Church struggling for survival in a hostile environment while the nation goes to war with itself. They are all here in this expertly edited collection of letters and compelling narrative of two critical decades in Mormon history." --Richard Bushman, author of Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling
"The year before Brigham Young was declared the new president of the Mormon Church, the sturdy pragmatist began an epistolary friendship with Thomas Kane, an idealistic Philadelphia reformer, that lasted until the year of Young's death. It was an unlikely relationship, originating in mutual self-interest, that blossomed into genuine affection, respect, and abiding friendship. Matthew Grow and Ronald Walker, premier Mormon historians, have done brilliant editorial and contextual work in bringing to life a remarkable correspondence that spans more than three decades involving polygamy, the Utah War, Indian relations, and the quest for statehood." --Terryl Givens, author of Wrestling the Angel: The Foundations of Mormon Thought
"The Prophet and the Reformer reveals the depth of a friendship that spanned the critical years (1846-77) in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This volume invites the reader into the social political and religious worlds of two men who helped shape nineteenth-century western American history. The introductions and notes to each of the ninety-nine letters provide both context and insight into the people and the issues that run through these letters... The letters are a wonderful record of a religious leader and a reformer who managed to find a common ground on which to build a long-term relationship, a friendship that rose above the difficult times in which they lived." --David J. Whittaker, Former Curator, Archives of the Mormon Experience, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University
"As a resource for those interested in Brigham Young as a prophet or as a governor, this book is essential. Because much of their correspondence was hand-carried by special couriers, both men felt free to openly discuss their problems and their feelings toward the world around them. Indeed, I can think of few, if any, works that reveal so much of the human side of an LDS prophet." --Association for Mormon Letters
"...[This] correspondence reveals a profound mutual respect between the two men, and their correspondence provides considerable insight regarding the relationship of the Mormons and the US government during years that were critical for the church-as well as the nation-a relationship that was consistently complex, frequently tortured, and always changing." --CHOICE
"These letters provide a first-hand account of the many of the momentous political decisions that affected Mormon fortunes, such as the Compromise of 1850, as well as events such as the conclusion of the 'Mormon War' of 1858, which Kane helped to negotiate. Each letter is prefaced by an introduction providing its historical context."--Religious Studies Review
