Joseph Smith

Rough Stone Rolling

By: Richard Lyman Bushman

Narrated by: James Anderson Foster

Founder of the largest indigenous Christian church in American history, Joseph Smith published the 584-page Book of Mormon when he was 23 and went on to organize a church, found cities, and attract thousands of followers before his violent death at age 38. Richard Bushman, an esteemed cultural historian and a practicing Mormon, moves beyond the popular stereotype of Smith as a colorful fraud to explore his personality, his relationships with others, and how he received revelations.

An arresting narrative of the birth of the Mormon Church, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling also brilliantly evaluates the prophet's bold contributions to Christian theology and his cultural place in the modern world.

©2005 Richard Lyman Bushman (P)2018 Tantor

First, I’m going to listen again!

Then I may even listen again. I love bushman’s no holds barred and unbiased treatment of so many difficult aspects of Joseph Smith’s complicated life. There is no irritating, prejudiced or sympathetic tone of someone who believes or does not believe in Joseph smith’s validity as a prophet of God. I recommend this book to anyone interested in a neutral telling ofJoseph Smith’s story.

Love the complete history

it's not easy to find this broad of a history of Joseph Smith on LDS.org. I find there are a lot of things left out. I really enjoyed the history and the story.

fantastic read!

I really enjoyed this read. I will warn the reader however, this book contains some church history that may be hard to understand and accept. I suggest reading "Saints volume 1" as a book to prepare for this read.
I enjoyed Bushmans honesty and defense on the life of Joseph Smith.

Fantastic Overview of Joseph’s Life

Fantastic overview of Joseph’s life. Interesting facts and topics about his life and legacy, which is of great use for anyone that wants to know about his work.

Like drinking from a fire hydrant

This book covers so much information. A very thorough account of the life and influence of Joseph Smith.