The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was founded by Joseph Smith in 1830 in the so-called burned-over district of western New York, which seemed to produce seers and prophets daily. Most of the new creeds burnt out; Smith's would endure. How Mormonism succeeded-and how it has fundamentally shaped American culture-is the story told by historian Benjamin Park in American Zion. While most prior accounts of the Mormons treat them as a monoculture existing outside the main currents of American life, Park is one of the first to demonstrate that Mormonism became central to American views of religious liberty and minority rights-and that Mormonism has been riven by deep internal divisions over gender, race and sexuality. An enthralling narrative account of the United States' most important homegrown religion, American Zion will be seen as the definitive history of Mormonism for years to come.

About the Author
Benjamin E. Park is associate professor of history at Sam Houston State University. The author of American Nationalisms and Kingdom of Nauvoo, he has written for the Washington Post, Newsweek, and Houston Chronicle. He lives in Conroe, Texas.

Reviews
"Park delves into Mormon history and lore to produce a picture of the institution as one that is both marginalized and marginalizing." -- The New Yorker
"...as Benjamin Park, the author of 'American Zion', a new history of Mormonism, argues... The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as it is officially known, has long defined itself simultaneously as a product--and an opponent-of America." -- The Economist



Book Information
ISBN 9781631498657
Author Benjamin E. Park
Format Hardback
Page Count 512
Imprint Liveright Publishing Corporation
Publisher WW Norton & Co
Weight(grams) 866g
Dimensions(mm) 244mm * 165mm * 43mm