A companion volume to their massive bibliography Studies in Mormon History, 1830–1997, this descriptive history by a team of top Mormon scholars provides a comprehensive view of how the writing of Mormon history has evolved since the establishment of the church. Mormon History offers an interpretive survey of Mormon historical writings, from the partisan and often ephemeral history of the nineteenth century through the shift in the twentieth toward a more balanced and professional approach and an emphasis on how the Mormons helped settle the American West. The authors examine Mormon biography and autobiography and discuss social science literature on the Mormons, including studies of social geography, rural sociology, and agricultural economics. Two valuable appendices round out this volume, one on the development and nature of Mormon imprints, the other on conducting historical research in Mormon sources.

Ronald W. Walker is a professional historian living in Salt Lake City and a professor emeritus of history at Brigham Young University. David J. Whittaker is an associate professor of history and the curator of nineteenth-century western and Mormon Americana at the Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University. James B. Allen is a professor emeritus of history at Brigham Young University and a former assistant church historian.

Preface   ix
1. Beginnings: Nineteenth-Century Historical Writing   1
2. Traditionalism Meets Modernism, 1990-1950   31
3. The New Mormon History: Historical Writing since 1950   60
4. The Challenge of Mormon Biography   113
5. Flowers, Weeds, and Thistles: The State of Social Science Literature on the Mormons, by Armand L. Mauss   153

APPENDIXES
A. Mormon Imprints as Sources for Research: A History and Evaluation   199
B. Mormon Americana: A Guide to Reference Works and Bibliographies   239
Index   265