Kingdom of Nauvoo

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

De: Benjamin E. Park

Narrado por: Bob Souer

An extraordinary story of faith and violence in 19th-century America, based on previously confidential documents from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Compared to the Puritans, Mormons have rarely gotten their due, often treated as fringe cultists or marginalized polygamists unworthy of serious examination. In Kingdom of Nauvoo, Benjamin E. Park excavates the brief, tragic life of a lost Mormon city, demonstrating that the Mormons are essential to understanding American history writ large. Using newly accessible sources, Park re-creates the Mormons' 1839 flight from Missouri to Illinois. There, under the charismatic leadership of Joseph Smith, they founded Nauvoo, which shimmered briefly - but Smith's challenge to democratic traditions, as well as his new doctrine of polygamy, would bring about its fall. His wife Emma, rarely written about, opposed him, but the greater threat came from without: in 1844, a mob murdered Joseph, precipitating the Mormon trek to Utah.

Throughout his absorbing chronicle, Park shows that far from being outsiders, the Mormons were representative of their era in their distrust of democracy and their attempt to forge a sovereign society of their own.

©2020 Benjamin E. Park (P)2020 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Exceptional!

This was such a masterful telling of history. It felt so true to all perspectives, not "whitewashing" anything but leaving one with a deeper compassion and understanding of events as they unfolded. Can't recommend enough!

fair and enjoyable experience

Tho I find myself struggling with modern history books, this one seems to give a fair and enjoyable narrative into the final years of the latter day saint experience in the east.

Well Researched. Great Book

Great Book. The Author clearly did his research and showed very objectively all of the events and drama surrounding Nauvoo during early Mormonism. I highly recommend this book to both LDS and post/non LDS.

Nuanced look at early limits of American ideals

"the reciprocity required to maintain democratic balance between citizenry and government seemed to erode on the American frontier, where tyrannical majorities stamped out dissent."
- Ben E Park, alluding to both Lincoln and Tocqueville, in Kingdom of Nauvoo

Having grown up in the LDS faith tradition, my relationship to both Mormon history and Nauvoo was largely influenced by a purely religious and almost myth-based history. I knew that Mormon history in the 1830s -40s took place before the Civil War in New York, Ohio, Missouri, Illinois (and eventually Utah), but I largely thought of pre-Civil War, Jacksonian America and the pre-Utah history of my faith as existing in isolation of each other. That false, historical separation was unfortunate. It is impossible to truly understand either early Mormon history without understanding the context of American politics (especially frontier politics) at the time OR to understand American history during the post post-Jackson era without understanding the "Mormon Problem". Using the Mormon city of Nauvoo as a lense, Ben Park is able to weave both the story of early Mormonism together with the limits of American democracy as it pertained to minorities in the pre-Civil War, pre-14th amendment, America. The inability of the Federal government to adequately protect minority groups, before the 1868 amendment, from states (read Missouri) or mobs was a nearly fatal flaw in American democracy.

If all Ben Park did was tell a good history of Nauvoo, I would have probably given this book four stars, but Ben was able to weave a fantastic narrative that integrated Nauvoo's story into the challenges of American democracy. He did it with fantastic research* and a nuanced approach that didn't forget that women were a large part of the early Mormon history AND that adequately put into perspective Mormon persecution against the larger brutality of Slavery and America's genocide and persecution of Native tribes. He does this skillfully in a way that helps give nuance to his narrative rather than simply as an after thought.

That gift for nuance also comes in useful as Ben Park explores the genesis of Mormon polygamy in Nauvoo and the internal and external conflicts its practice created.

Great history from a great historian

A very well written and a very fair telling of an interesting period in American history. This book does an amazing job of putting Mormon history in the full context of American history.

A great audiobook

This is a must read if you like Mormon history. I learned so much. I particularly enjoyed seeing the Nauvoo period through the eyes of the displaced and marginalized. Unique perspective about how the politic of the day failed in keeping Mormons safe in Missouri (and before) and how this impacted Joseph Smith and his quest for security and safety.

So many new perspective. Thank you Dr. Park for your research using new sources never made available to researchers previously.

An NFL Films Approach to History

I had high hopes for this book to “Tell the Story of Nauvoo” It however felt more like an NFL film recounting the milestones of polygamy and polyandry. No real story just a splattering of events that happened in Nauvoo told with a lack of emotion and interest that would even give Spock pause.

I was excited to see something on Audible on this subject that was not censored by Mormon influence, which is why 4 stars, but not on par with histories with broader appeal.

Unmistakably Carefully Skillfully Assembled

Accurate history telling / writing. Philosophically and epistemologically it seems an unavoidable contradiction in terms.

Thus is a careful and sincere effort admirable and appreciated. Thus do I admire and appreciate this work by Benjamin Parker.

It seems carefully sourced and documented. And it seems to leverage and benefit greatly from access to previously unavailable sources.

Life (and human nature) is … well life (and human behavior) is messy. And delightful. And troublesome. And in some fundamental ways unchanging. And it (both) defy tidy too-oft imposed dichotomous classifications ie, good/bad, right/wrong, and so forth.

My compliments to the author whose work allows and invites understanding, sympathy, empathy, and self reflection.

Fantastic, but....

As an active member of the church and a avid seeker of church history, I found this work very enlightening and engaging. All of the previous reviews regarding the narrator are silly when compared to substance. Speed up the narration a bit and you'll never notice. However, this is not a read for the faint of heart or for those looking for a feel good, testimony building experience. It is content rich and presented as a historical sequence, not a spiritual driven narrative.

Like most works regarding church history, they must be consumed with caution. Some ideas may fit within the context of the church narrative and others are counter and are often exploited as "anti-mormon" literature. While I don't feel this is "anti" this work doesn't fit within the mormon narrative so often told as members.

After watching the author, a graduate of BYU, present to the Maxwell Institute (a church based research group) I felt it was safe to explore this book.

The first portion of the book was fascinating in the founding of Nauvoo and very similar to most of what is taught in the mormon narrative. I found the role of government oppression in the decisions of the early saints extremely enlightening and thought provoking, especially in our current time of converging ideas regarding the role of government in our lives.

The second portion of the book and most controversial portion is the role of polygamy in the evolution of the church. It's kind of the dark underbelly of church history no one likes to talk about. However it's unfortunate role in that time can not be avoided and has to be wrestled with. I appreciate the author references to the polygamist time of Joseph's teachings as a "project." Maybe just a personal preference but it places the polygamist project as more of an experiment than as a doctrine. It's a project that failed and therefore it can be seen as such and be left behind.

Regardless of how you may feel about that portion of church history, it's good to ask the question if the church movement would have progressed to the wonderful things it is today without some missteps in the past.

Read this book for an enriching history of the early Saints and a better understanding of role of government in this period of the United States. Make sure to let your current biasis not dictate the understanding and political feelings of those in that time period. It's the recount of the 1800's not the 2020's. Let the information enrich your understanding, not doubt your faith. Your testimony is built on the present not the past. Overall a very fascinating read!

Good Theo-Political Survey, but Not Comprehensive

Fantastic for a high-level survey, but it could have been better with more detail and an examination of Nauvoo and the Nauvoo era Mormon Church beyond theocratic/political themes. I was expecting a comprehensive history of Mormon Nauvoo, which was probably unfair to the author who likely only set out only to write a political history. The author succeeds at that, but we still need a modern, one-volume, scholarly, comprehensive history of Mormon Nauvoo. Also, the narrator does need a tutorial on how to pronounce some Mormon words like (ironically) "Nauvoo" and "Lamanite", but it didn't detract from my listening experience.