No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet

This highly praised biography, revised and enlarged with new material, takes its title from a half-defiant, half-wistful pronouncement Joseph Smith himself made toward the close of the short, tragic melodrama that was his life. But the reader is made to know him fully--the man, the world from which he came, his extraordinary impact. His biographer, herself steeped in Mormon lore since her Utah childhood, performed feats of painstaking research--through the files of country newspapers, obscure court records, countless thickets of local documents and memories. The result is a concrete narrative of Smith's life from his boyhood and young manhood to his violent end. Mrs. Brodie throws light also on the literary influences that inspired and colored the Book of Mormon and the theological structure of the religion founded on it. Beyond its vivid portrayal of the Mormon Prophet, this is a history of the early days of the Mormon Church.--From publisher description.