Mormons in the Modern World

Brodie, Fawn M. - No Man Knows My History: the life of Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet
 (921 sm) This book attempts to answer the questions that continue to surround Joseph Smith. Was he a genuine prophet, or a gifted fabulist, who became enthralled by the products of his imagination?

Bushman, Richard Lyman - Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling
(921 Sm) Presents the life of the founder of the Church of Latter Day Saints, from his hardscrabble early life in rural New York, to the visions that inspired The Book of Mormon, and his untimely death at the hands of a mob in 1844.

Embry, Jessie L. - Black Saints in a White Church: Contemporary African American Mormons
(289.3 Em) In June 1978 the Mormon Church lifted a barrier to blacks from holding full membership. While this announcement is regarded as one of the most important revelations in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, many non-Mormons were surprised to hear that overt discrimination had been practiced until that time. They were equally surprised to learn that there had been black Mormons from the very founding of the church in the 1830s. Embry (history, Brigham Young Univ.) has based this balanced work on the oral histories and follow-up surveys of over 200 black Latter-day Saints. The result is a comprehensive history of blacks in the Mormon Church, with a heavy emphasis on life in the church since the 1978 revelation.

Grosberg, John H. - The Other Side of Heaven
(921 Groberg) Now made into a major motion picture of the same name, this is a story of one Mormon missionary's experience serving a mission in Tonga during the early 1950's. The biography is entertaining, heartwarming, well written and unique.

Hewitt, Hugh - A Mormon in the White House
(921 Rom) Although Mitt Romeny is no longer in the 2008 presidential race, there was much speculation about what would happen with the country had a Mormon president been elected. Hewitt was fairly close to the Romeny campaign and gives a positive perspective on the former Massachusetts governor. Although, the book addresses Romeny in particular, there are some cultural and historical views on the Mormon religion presented as well.

Newell, Coke - Latter Days: A Guided Tour through Six Billion years of Mormonism
(289.3 Ne) Presents the Mormon story of the creation of the world and lays out what Mormons believe is the divine plan for mankind.

Ostling, Richard N. - Mormon America: The Power and the Promise
(289.3 Os) The book evolved from a Time magazine article entitled “Mormon’s Inc.” One of the story’s reporters, Richard Ostling, became so fascinated by Mormonism that he set out to write "a candid but non-polemical" overview of the Church, beginning with its founding by Joseph Smith Jr. in 1830 and continuing to the present day.

Palmer, Grant H. - An Insider's View of Mormon Origins
(289.3 Pa) Over the past thirty years, an enormous amount of research has been conducted into Mormon origins--Joseph Smith's early life, the Book of Mormon, the prophet's visions, and the restoration of priesthood authority. Longtime LDS educator Grant H. Palmer suggests that most Latter-day Saints remain unaware of the significance of these discoveries. He therefore gives a brief survey of the literature for all who have ever wanted to know more about the New Mormon History.

Shipps, Jan - Sojourner in the Promised Land: Forty years Among the Mormons
(289.3 Sh) Jan Shipps is one of the country’s most widely respected non-Mormon Mormon scholars. The topics covered in this book include the perception of Mormons over time, the faith's origins, and the case of being an "insider-outsider."

Solomon, Dorothy Allred - The Sisterhood: Inside the Lives of Mormon Women
(289.3 Sol) An insider's tour of the lives of Latter-day Saint women challenges popular conceptions that Mormon women are submissive and victimized by their faith, in a historical study that evaluates family life, the experiences of High Priestesses, and polygamy.

Smith, Joseph - The Book of Mormon
(289. Bo) Narrates the historical, religious, political, and military events that shaped and continue to inform the Church’s teachings.

Ure, James W. - Leaving the Fold: Conversations with Inactive Mormons
(289.3 Ur) Interviewer and editor Ure, an inactive Mormon himself, negotiates his own place outside the tradition during the course of these engaging conversations.

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Books on CD

Jessop, Carolyn - Escape
(921 Jes) The dramatic first-person account of life inside an ultra-fundamentalist American Religious sect, and one woman's courageous flight to freedom with her eight children

Beck, Martha - Leaving the Saints: How I Lost The Mormons and Found My Faith
(921 Bec) This beautifully written, inspiring memoir explores the powerful yearning toward faith. It offers a rare glimpse inside one of the world's most secretive religions while telling a profoundly moving story of personal courage, survival, and the transformative power of spirituality.

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DVD

The Mormons
Dig deep into the Mormon past to understand the church today. One of America's fastest-growing religions and, relative to its size, one of the richest. Church membership, now at twelve million and growing, sweeps the globe.