Bibliography of the Latter Day Saint movement

Overviews

• Hinckley, Gordon B. (1947). What of the Mormons?: A Brief Study of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. ISBN 1494053462.
  • As part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Mormon pioneers' arrival in the Salt Lake Valley, LDS church president George Albert Smith tasked Hinckley (then employed as the Executive Secretary to the Church Radio, Publicity, and Mission Literature Committee) to write a book which would introduce the Church to non-members; it is divided into two sections— "The Mormons Today: A Contemporary Picture" and "The Mormons Yesterday: Their History"; beginning in 1969, the Church began publishing the historical part alone under the title Truth Restored: A Short History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

• Ludlow, Daniel H., ed. (1992). Encyclopedia of Mormonism: The History, Scripture, Doctrine, and Procedure of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. New York: Macmillan. ISBN 002904040X.
  • A semiofficial encyclopedia for topics relevant to the LDS Church. Published in four volumes, with an optional fifth volume containing the "Standard Works."
• Bushman, Richard Lyman (22 April 2008). Mormonism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0195310306.
  • A compact (144 pages) history of the LDS Church, and survey of contentious issues in contemporary Mormonism; an installment in the Very Short Introductions book series by an eminent historian and practicing Mormon.
• Shipps, Jan (1987). Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252014170.
  • Scholarly analysis of the religion's origins and development; written by a cultural historian, who is a leading authority on Mormonism (yet not a member of the faith).
• Ostling, Richard; Ostling, Joan K. (2012) [2001]. Mormon America: The Power and the Promise (revised and updated ed.). Harper Collins. ISBN 0061432954.
  • By journalists who sought to write "a candid but non-polemical" overview of the Mormon world; investigates the LDS Church's finances.
• Mauss, Armand L. (1994). The Angel and the Beehive: The Mormon Struggle with Assimilation. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252020715.
  • A sociological analysis of the previous forty years of Mormon history and a cultural "retrenchment" among Mormons— against assimilation.

• Bushman, Claudia L. (30 January 2006). Contemporary Mormonism: Latter-day Saints in Modern America. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 027598933X.
  • A collection of the viewpoints of contemporary Mormons in America, on their beliefs, rituals, and practices; also their views on race, ethnicity, social class, gender, and sexual orientation.

• O'Dea, Thomas F. (1957). The Mormons. The University of Chicago Press.
  • A study of the Mormons and their religion by a non-member sociologist; includes an account of LDS theology, with an analysis of the Book of Mormon.

History

• Allen, James B.; Leonard, Glen M. (1992) [1976]. The Story of the Latter-day Saints (2nd, revised and enlarged ed.). Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book. ISBN 087579565X.
  • A single-volume history covering the LDS Church down to 1991. Commissioned by the Church Historical Department; it puts the history of the Church in the context of its times. First published on the one-hundredth anniversary of Joseph Fielding Smith's birth; it was subject to some controversy within the Church, with some considering it not "spiritual enough."
• Smith, Joseph (1858). Roberts, B. H., ed. History of the Church. Deseret Book Company. ISBN 0875794866. Originally entitled History of Joseph Smith; a revised edition was published in seven volumes under the title History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1902–1932; it is currently published under the shortened title.
  • A semi-official history of the early Latter Day Saint movement during the lifetime of Joseph Smith. It is largely composed of Smith's writings with interpolations and editorial comments by Smith's secretaries and scribes; and, after Smith's death, historians of the LDS Church.
• Smith, Joseph Fielding (1922). Essentials in Church History: A History of the Church From the Birth of Joseph Smith to the Present Time (1922), With Introductory Chapters on the Antiquity of the Gospel and the "Falling Away,". Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News Press. ISBN 1290646546.
  • Single volume history produced by the LDS Church; written by an Apostle.
• Smith, Joseph (31 March 2012). Davidson, Karen Lynn; Whittaker, David J.; Ashurst-McGee, Mark R.; Jensen, Richard L., eds. Histories, Volume 1: Joseph Smith Histories, 1832–1844. The Joseph Smith Papers: Histories Series (Book 1 of 2). Salt Lake City: The Church Historian's Press. ISBN 1606411969.
  • Collection of six personal and church histories written, dictated, or closely supervised by Smith; including accounts of his first vision of Deity, ministering of the angel Moroni, discovery of the gold plates and translation of the Book of Mormon, bestowal of priesthood authority, an account of the “Missouri Mormon War”, and Smith's original Articles of Faith.
• Mackay, Michael Hubbard; Dirkmaat, Gerrit J.; Underwood, Grant; Woodford, Robert J.; Hartley, William G., eds. (8 November 2013). Documents, Volume 1: July 1828-June 1831. The Joseph Smith Papers: Documents Series (Book 1 of 10). Salt Lake City: The Church Historian's Press. ISBN 1609075773.
  • A collection including the first three years of what survives of Joseph Smith's papers, including letters sent and received, revelations, minutes of meetings, deeds and other financial papers, records of ecclesiastical administration; covering documentation of key events including the translation and publication of the Book of Mormon, the establishment of a church, and the mission by Oliver Cowdery and others to preach to American Indians on the western frontier of the United States.
• Roberts, B. H. (6 April 1930). Comprehensive History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Century I. The LDS Church and Deseret News Press. ISBN 0842504826.
  • A six-volume history by a general authority and Assistant Church Historian of the LDS Church.
• Quinn, D. Michael (15 December 1994). The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power. Signature Books. ISBN 1560850566.
  • An examination of the first two decades of LDS history and the move from Joseph Smith's charismatic spontaneity, and the egalitarian chaos of the early church, to Brigham Young's well-defined structure and the bureaucratization of Mormonism.
• Grow, Matthew J.; Smith, R. Eric, eds. (4 September 2017). The Council of Fifty: What the Records Reveal about Mormon History. RSC BYU, Deseret Book. ISBN 1944394214.
  • A compilation of fifteen brief essays on new insights found in the previously unavailable minutes of the Council of Fifty; historians who analyze the records include Richard Lyman Bushman, Richard E. Turley Jr., Spencer W. McBride, Patrick Q. Mason, Benjamin E. Park, Nathan B. Oman, Gerrit J. Dirkmaat, R. Eric Smith, Matthew J. Grow, Marilyn Bradford, Jeffrey D. Mahas, Matthew C. Godfrey, Christopher James Blythe, Richard E. Bennett, Jedediah S. Rogers, and W. Paul Reeve.
• Hunter, J. Michael, ed. (5 December 2012). Mormons and Popular Culture: The Global Influence of an American Phenomenon. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 031339167X.
  • A collection of essays on influential Mormons in American popular culture; in cinema, television, drama, theater, and music; with specific chapters on Disney, Philo T. Farnsworth, the Hill Cumorah Pageant, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Rose Marie Reid, and a selection of Mormon actors.
• Nibley, Hugh (1 November 1987). Compton, Todd; Ricks, Stephen D., eds. Mormonism and Early Christianity. The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book. ISBN 0-87579-127-1.
  • A collection of essays about primitive Christianity, with particular focus on the connection between the practices and the doctrines of the early Church and the LDS Church.
• Bates, Irene M.; Smith, E. Gary (2017) [1996]. Lost Legacy: The Mormon Office of Presiding Patriarch (expanded ed.). University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252083091.
  • A study of the office of Presiding Patriarch in the LDS Church; chronicling its history.

Regional studies

The Book of Mormon

• Hardy, Grant, ed. (10 August 2005). The Book of Mormon: A Reader's Edition. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 025207341X.
  • A reader-friendly version reformating the complete, unchanged 1920 text in the manner of modern translations of the Bible, with paragraphs, quotations marks, poetic forms, topical headings, multichapter headings, indention of quoted documents, italicized reworkings of biblical prophecies, and minimized verse numbers; also featuring a hypothetical map based on internal references, an essay on Book of Mormon poetry, a full glossary of names, genealogical charts, a basic bibliography of Mormon and non-Mormon scholarship, a chronology of the translation, eyewitness accounts of the gold plates, and information regarding the lost 116 pages and significant changes in the text.
• Hardy, Grant (7 April 2010). Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Reader's Guide. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0199731705.
  • An analysis of the work's narrative structure; takes readers through its characters, events, and ideas, as it explores the story and its messages; seeks to reconcile believing and nonbelieving readings by offering a literary approach.
• Nyman, Monte S. (1 September 1991). The Most Correct Book: Why the Book of Mormon is the Keystone Scripture. Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft. ISBN 088494798X.
  • Mostly written with a beginner in mind; it makes a case for Joseph Smith's description of the Book of Mormon as "the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion," and that "a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book."^[1]

Others

• Rosenvall, Lynn A.; Rosenvall, David L. (24 November 2017). A New Approach to Studying the Covenants of Our Fathers: A Harmony of Genesis, Moses and Abraham. Olive Leaf Foundation. ISBN 0998717819.
  • Presents the text of the Book of Genesis, Book of Moses, and Book of Abraham into 186 events or episodes placed in chronological sequence; in an effort to present the primeval history of the Genesis creation narrative in a comprehensive harmonized structure.

Criticism

• Palmer, Grant H. (15 November 2002). An Insider's View of Mormon Origins. Salt Lake City: Signature Books. ISBN 1560851570.
  • Examination of the contents of the Book of Mormon, challenging the claim of ancient origin; by a retired CES instructor and Institute director.
• Persuitte, David (1 September 2000) [1985]. Joseph Smith and the Origins of the Book of Mormon (second expanded ed.). Jefferson, NC: McFarland. ISBN 078640826X.
  • Biographical sketch of Joseph Smith with background information about the origin of the Book of Mormon; posits the idea that Smith used the 1823 work View of the Hebrews as a source of ideas in creating the Book.
• Larson, Charles M. (1 March 1992). By His Own Hand Upon Papyrus: A New Look at the Joseph Smith Papyri. Institute for Religious Research. ISBN 0962096326.
  • Critical examination of the Egyptian papyri from which Joseph Smith purportedly translated the Book of Abraham.

Death

• Nelson, Russell M. (1995). The Gateway We Call Death. Deseret Book Company. ISBN 0875799531.
  • An approach to the subject of death from both a medical and a theological point of view by a (then) LDS Apostle; discussing topics such as the purpose of life and of death; the purpose of mourning; factors of choice, such as suicide, euthanasia, and use of mechanical means to extend life; and life after death.
• Brown, Samuel Morris (1 December 2011). In Heaven as It Is on Earth: Joseph Smith and the Early Mormon Conquest of Death. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0199793573.
  • Narrative history of the foundational beliefs of early Mormonism; interpreting them through the lens of Joseph Smith's preoccupation with death.

Evolution

• Smith, Joseph Fielding (1954). Man, His Origin and Destiny. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book.
  • Challenge to the "hypothesis of organic evolution"; written by the then President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the LDS Church.
• Evenson, William E.; Jeffery, Duane E. (11 January 2006). Mormonism and Evolution: The Authoritative LDS Statements. Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books. ISBN 1589580931.
  • Compilation of all known authoritative statements by LDS Church leaders on the topics of evolution and the origin of human beings; with historical context for the statements.
• Stephens, Trent D.; Meldrum, D. Jeffrey; Peterson, Forrest B. (15 February 2001). Evolution and Mormonism: A Quest for Understanding. Salt Lake City: Signature Books. ISBN 1560851422.
  • A review the scientific data about how life developed on Earth, written for a general LDS audience.
• Sessions, Gene A.; Oberg, Craig J., eds. (1 March 1993). The Search for Harmony: Essays on Science and Mormonism. Salt Lake City: Signature Books. ISBN 1560850205.
  • Compilation of essays on the theological implications of science, by LDS scientists.
• Paul, Erich Robert (1 June 1992). Science, Religion, and Mormon Cosmology. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252018958.
  • Historical survey of the LDS Church's varied relationship to science.

Occult aspects

• Quinn, D. Michael (15 December 1998) [1987]. Early Mormonism and the Magic World View (Revised and enlarged ed.). Salt Lake City: Signature Books. ISBN 1560850892.
  • Study of the role of 19th-century New England folk magic lore in Joseph Smith's early visions and in the development of the Book of Mormon.
• Reeve, W. Paul; Wagenen, Michael Scott Van, eds. (23 May 2011). Between Pulpit and Pew: The Supernatural World in Mormon History and Folklore. Utah State University Press. ISBN 0874218381.
  • An exploration of Mormon cultural and religious history through a collection of folklore, supernatural legends and events; including stories of Cain as a Bigfoot, the Gadianton robbers, UFOs, the Dream Mine, and an Utah version of Nessie.
• Brooke, John L. (31 May 1996). The Refiner's Fire: The Making of Mormon Cosmology, 1644-1844. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521565642.
  • A history of the roots of Mormon theology; contending that its origins lie in the fusion of radical religion with occult ideas.

Politics

• Flake, Kathleen (22 March 2004). The Politics of American Religious Identity: The Seating of Senator Reed Smoot, Mormon Apostle. University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0807855014.
  • Analysis of the Reed Smoot hearings and their impact on the "Mormon Problem."

• Bringhurst, Newell G.; Foster, Craig L. (11 September 2011) [2008]. The Mormon Quest for the Presidency: From Joseph Smith to Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman (expanded and updated volume). John Whitmer Books. ISBN 1934901091.
  • A detailed description of the campaigns of 11 Mormons (including ex-Mormons and soon-to-be Mormons) who ran for the presidency of the United States; it includes the third-party runs of Joseph Smith (1844), Parley P. Christensen (1920), Ezra Taft Benson (1968), Eldridge Cleaver (1968), Sonia Johnson (1984), and Bo Gritz (1992); and the major-party runs of George Romney (1968), Mo Udall (1976), Orrin Hatch (2000), Mitt Romney (2008 and 2012) and Jon Huntsman (2012).

Polygamy

• Compton, Todd M. (15 December 1997). In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith. Salt Lake City: Signature Books. ISBN 156085085X.
  • Biographical look at each of the 33 women who married Joseph Smith.
• Bringhurst, Newell G.; Foster, Craig L., eds. (1 November 2010). The Persistence of Polygamy: Joseph Smith and the Origins of Mormon Polygamy. John Whitmer Books. ISBN 193490113X.
  • First of three volumes, collecting essays on the relationship of Joseph Smith to Fanny Alger, analysis of Section 132 of the LDS Doctrine and Covenants (including the RLDS Church's reaction), Joseph Smith and polyandry; contributors include Todd M. Compton, Ugo A. Perego, and Linda King Newell.
• Bringhurst, Newell G.; Foster, Craig L., eds. (13 September 2013). The Persistence of Polygamy: From Joseph Smith's Martyrdom to the First Manifesto, 1844-1890. John Whitmer Books. ISBN 1934901148.
  • Second of three volumes, collecting essays on plural marriage as practiced by Brigham Young, the plural wives of Prophets from Young to Heber J. Grant, Strangites, William Smith, Lyman Wight, Alpheus Cutler, nineteenth-century Mormon female activism, the incarceration of Mormon plural wives, and the RLDS Church's directive on baptism of Saora tribal polygamists; contributors include George D. Smith and Richard P. Howard.
• Bringhurst, Newell G.; Foster, Craig L., eds. (17 August 2015). Persistence of Polygamy: Fundamentalist Mormon Polygamy from 1890 to the Present. John Whitmer Books. ISBN 1934901164.
  • Third of three volumes, collecting seventeen original essays on the history of plural marriage among fundamentalist Mormons—who persisted in the practice after LDS Church President Wilford Woodruff’s 1890 Manifesto; provides a history of mainstream LDS polygamy in Mexico, John Taylor's controversial 1886 Revelation, portraits of fundamentalist Mormon leaders such as Joseph White Musser, Rulon C. Allred, Rulon T. Jeffs, and Warren S. Jeffs, the 1980s schism between the FLDS church and Centennial Park Community, the 2008 Texas raid on the FLDS YFZ Ranch, and modern media stereotyping of Mormon polygamy, the changing style of fundamentalist clothing and hair styles.

Race

• Bringhurst, Newell G.; Smith, Darron T., eds. (2004). Black and Mormon. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-02947-X.
  • A collection of articles about Black people and Mormonism, race and the LDS priesthood, and the experience of Black Mormons.
• Reeve, W. Paul (27 February 2015). Religion of a Different Color: Race and the Mormon Struggle for Whiteness. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0199754071.
  • A study of Mormonism's struggle for status and recognition, in the context of how Protestants racialized Mormons.
• Mueller, Max Perry (11 September 2017). Race and the Making of the Mormon People. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 1469636166.
  • A study of the history of evolving Mormon concepts of race.
• Carter, Kate B. (1965). The Story of the Negro Pioneer. Daughters of Utah Pioneers.
  • The stories of Black Mormons who emigrated to Utah; such as Jane Manning James, Elijah Abel, and Liz Flake Rowan.
• Garrett, Matthew (31 December 2016). Making Lamanites: Mormons, Native Americans, and the Indian Student Placement Program, 1947-2000. University of Utah Press. ISBN 1607815699.
  • Study of the Lamanite Placement Program.
• Harris, Matthew L.; Bringhurst, Newell G., eds. (15 November 2015). The Mormon Church and Blacks: A Documentary History. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 025209784X.
  • A collection of thirty official or authoritative Church statements on the status of African Americans in the LDS Church; with editorial comments and analysis, contextualizing each within the history of race and religion in the US.
• Bush, Lester E.; Mauss, Armand L., eds. (1984). Neither White Nor Black: Mormon Scholars Confront the Race Issue in a Universal Church. Signature Books. ISBN 0941214222.
  • Collection of essays by the editors, and Newell G. Bringhurst, most of which originally appeared in Dialogue.
• Mauss, Armand L. (2003). All Abraham's Children: Changing Mormon Conceptions of Race and Lineage. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252028031.
  • Study of the evolution of traditional Mormon beliefs and practices concerning minorities; examining how members of the LDS Church have defined themselves and others in terms of racial lineages.
• Southerton, Simon G. (2004). Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church. Signature Books.
  • A molecular biologist's explanation of DNA research on Native Americans and Polynesians origins, conflicting with standard LDS Church teachings.

Sexuality

• Christofferson, Tom (25 October 2017). That We May Be One: A Gay Mormon's Perspective on Faith and Family. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book. ISBN 1629723916.
  • Perspectives of a self-described "happy gay Mormon"; a brother of LDS Apostle D. Todd Christofferson, who left the Church, and then returned to it.
• Quinn, D. Michael (20 June 2001) [1996]. Same-Sex Dynamics Among Nineteenth-Century Americans: A Mormon Example. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252069587.
  • Historical survey the tolerance of same-sex relationships by the LDS Church, before the onset of homophobia in the late 1950s.
• Corcoran, Brent, ed. (1994). Multiply and Replenish: Mormon Essays on Sex and Family. Signature Books. ISBN 1560850507.
  • Collection of 13 essays on the evolution of Mormon attitudes about sexual practices (including homosexuality), polygamy, and celestial marriage; authors include Eugene England and Levi S. Peterson.
• Kimball, Spencer W. (2002) [1969]. The Miracle of Forgiveness. Deseret Book Company. ISBN 0884941922.
  • Once popular work about the atonement, repentance, and the plan of salvation by a, then, Apostle of the LDS Church; controversial for its treatment of masturbation, homosexuality, premarital sex, and rape.

Temples

• Talmage, James Edward (1912). The House of the Lord: A Study of Holy Sanctuaries, Ancient and Modern. Deseret News. ISBN 1499640358.
  • Published by the LDS Church, it discusses the doctrine, purpose, and importance of temples; the first book to contain photographs of the interiors of Mormon temples (including those in Kirtland, Nauvoo, Salt Lake, St. George, Logan, and Manti).

• Packer, Boyd K. (1 October 2007) [1980]. The Holy Temple. Bookcraft/Deseret Book Company. ISBN 0884944115.
  • LDS Apostle discusses the doctrine and purpose of the temples, including an explanation of the entrance requirements; also explains why Church teachings focus on family history and genealogy; Deseret Book published an extended, illustrated version of the book in 2007.

Violence

• Denton, Sally (17 June 2003). American Massacre: The Tragedy at Mountain Meadows, September 1857 (First ed.). New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-375-41208-5.
  • History of the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
• Bagley, Will (2002). Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-3426-7.
  • History of the Mountain Meadows Massacre; the author posits that Brigham Young ordered the massacre.
• Walker, Ronald W.; Turley, Richard E.; Leonard, Glen M. (9 February 2011). Massacre at Mountain Meadows. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0199747563.
  • Account of the Mountain Meadows Massacre; written drawing from LDS Church documents previously not available to scholars.
• Turley, Richard E., Jr.; Walker, Ronald W., eds. (30 September 2009). Mountain Meadows Massacre: The Andrew Jenson and David H. Morris Collections. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press. ISBN 0842527230.
  • A reproduction of two of the collections uncovered during research for Massacre at Mountain Meadows; one compiled in the 1890s by Andrew Jenson, the second a decade later by David H. Morris (1858–1937), an attorney and judge in St. George, Utah.
• Krakauer, Jon (2004). Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 9781400078998.
  • Investigation of the histories of the LDS Church, and the crimes of a small splinter group called the School of Prophets; also examines the ideologies of both the LDS Church and the fundamentalist Mormon polygamous groups, such as the FLDS Church.
• Turley, Richard E., Jr. (1992). Victims: The LDS Church and the Mark Hofmann Case. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252018850.
  • The story of the Mark Hofmann case, told from the perspectives of the murder victims and the LDS Church; written by an Assistant Church Historian with church leaders' support and access to interviews, diaries, journals, memoranda, and other records.

Women

• Daughters in My Kingdom: The History and Work of Relief Society. The Christopher Publishing House. 2011. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  • Comprehensive history of the Relief Society, produced by the LDS Church; written by Susan W. Tanner.^[2]
• Hanks, Maxine, ed. (1992). Women and Authority: Re-emerging Mormon Feminism. Salt Lake City, Utah: Signature Books. ISBN 1560850140.
  • Collection of essays compiled by a Mormon feminist theologian, exploring issues of women's spirituality and authority within the Mormon church; the Mormon concept of a mother in heaven; and the relationship of Mormon women and priesthood. Contributors include Linda King Newell, Meg Wheatley, Todd Compton, Lavina Fielding Anderson, Carol Lynn Pearson, D. Michael Quinn, and Margaret Merrill Toscano.
• Brooks, Joanna; Steenblik, Rachel Hunt; Wheelwright, Hannah, eds. (2 November 2015). Mormon Feminism: Essential Writings. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0190248033.
  • A collection of writings and speeches from four decades of the modern Mormon feminist movement; a guide to understand the history of gender in Mormonism. Contributors include Claudia Lauper Bushman, Sonia Johnson, Linda King Newell, Carol Cornwall Madsen, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Mary Lythgoe Bradford, Margaret Merrill Toscano, Linda Sillitoe, Carol Lynn Pearson, Janice Merrill Allred, Chieko Nishimura Okazaki, Lisa Butterworth, Valerie Hudson Cassler, Neylan McBaine, Kate Kelly, and Lani Wendt Young.
• Shepherd, Gordon; Anderson, Lavina Fielding; Shepherd, Gary, eds. (29 July 2015). Voices for Equality: Ordain Women and Resurgent Mormon Feminism. Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books. ISBN 1589587588.
  • A collection of articles by twenty-five scholars and activists on the issue of gender equality in the LDS Church; examines the high public visibility of the Ordain Women movement, and details the theological debates about gender and priesthood authority.
• Davidson, Karen Lynn; Derr, Jill Mulvay (2013). Eliza: The Life and Faith of Eliza R. Snow. Deseret Book. ISBN 1609089022.
  • Biography of Eliza R. Snow, 2nd President of the Relief Society (from 1866–1887).
• Bradley, Martha Sonntag (18 October 2005). Pedestals and Podiums: Utah Women, Religious Authority, and Equal Rights. Signature Books. ISBN 1560851899.
  • A survey of the involvement of Mormons in the women's movement (including early Utah leaders such as Emmeline B. Wells) and the shift to championing a more conservative view of women's roles; culminating in the concerted effort to defeat the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).
• Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher (10 January 2017). A House Full of Females: Plural Marriage and Women's Rights in Early Mormonism, 1835-1870. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 0307594904.
  • A history of marriage and family life among first-generation Latter-day Saints; focused on the world of early Mormon women— pieced together through diaries, letters, albums, minute-books, and quilts— their practice of "plural marriage," and their attainment of female suffrage.
• Holbrook, Kate; Bowman, Matthew Burton (30 May 2016). Women and Mormonism: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. University of Utah Press. ISBN 1607814773.
  • A collection of essays on the experience of LDS women in a predominantly male-led church; topics include Jane Manning James, Mother in Heaven, and the intersecting paths of Mormon and Roman Catholic feminists; contributors include lay members and scholars, including both LDS and non-LDS viewpoints: Catherine Brekus, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Rachel Cope, Jennifer Reeder, Kristine Wright, Jonathan Stapley, Susanna Morrill, Quincy D. Newell, Amanda Hendrix-Komoto, Rebekah Ryan Clark, David E. Campbell, Carine Decoo-Vanwelkenhuysen, Melissa Wei-Tsing Inouye, Jennifer Finlayson-Fife, Claudia Bushman, P. Jane Hafen, Neylan McBaine, Aimee Evans Hickman, and Mary Farrell Bednarowski.

Community of Christ (RLDS Church)

• Davis, Inez Smith (1998) [1934]. The Story of the Church: A History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and of Its Legal Successor, the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (thirteenth, updated ed.). Independence, MO: Herald Publishing House. ISBN 0830901884.
  • A history, by the daughter of RLDS Apostle and Church Historian Heman C. Smith.
• Edwards, Paul M. (1991). Our Legacy of Faith: A Brief History of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Independence, MO: Herald Publishing House. ISBN 0830905944.
  • History of the RLDS Church, published by the Church.

Others

• Walker, Ronald W. (1 January 1998). Wayward Saints: The Godbeites and Brigham Young. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252067053. Foreword by Jan Shipps. Republished by the University of Utah in 2009.
  • Chronicle of the Godbeites and their 1870s challenge to Brigham Young's leadership and authority; a collective biography of William S. Godbe, Elias L. T. Harrison, Edward W. Tullidge, Fanny and Thomas Stenhouse, Amasa M. Lyman, Henry W. Lawrence, and Eli B. Kelsey.

Joseph Smith

• Smith, Joseph (26 November 2008). Jessee, Dean; Esplin, Ronald; Bushman, Richard Lyman, eds. The Joseph Smith Papers: Journals, Vol. 1: 1832-1839. Joseph Smith Papers: Journals Series (Book 1 of 3). Salt Lake City: Church Historian's Press. ISBN 1570088497.
  • Collection featuring Joseph Smith's first five journals; providing Smith's perspective on the Kirtland Temple, the origins of the "Missouri Mormon War", and the founding of what would become Nauvoo, Illinois.
• Smith, Joseph (15 November 2011). Hedges, Andrew H.; Smith, Alex D.; Anderson, Richard Lloyd, eds. The Joseph Smith Papers: Journals, Vol. 2, December 1841–April 1843. Joseph Smith Papers: Journals Series (Book 2 of 3). Salt Lake City: Church Historian's Press. ISBN 1609087372.
  • Collection featuring Smith's first Nauvoo, Illinois journal, as well as part of the second; chronicling the organization of the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo, proxy baptism for the dead, publication of the Book of Abraham, construction of the Nauvoo Temple, agitation from dissenters such as John C. Bennett, and an attempts to have Smith extradited to Missouri for trial.
• Smith, Joseph (30 November 2015). Hedges, Andrew H.; Smith, Alex D.; Rogers, Brent M., eds. The Joseph Smith Papers: Journals, Volume 3: May 1843-June 1844. Joseph Smith Papers: Journals Series (Book 3 of 3). Salt Lake City: Church Historian's Press. ISBN 1629721476.
  • Collection featuring journal entries from the last year of Smith's life; discussing topics including humanity's potential to become like God, establishment of the Council of Fifty, Smith's candidacy for United States president, and escalating conflict against Smith and the church. Includes appendixes with accounts from Willard Richards and William Clayton of the murder of Joseph and Hyrum Smith.
• Smith, Lucy Mack (1853). Biographical Sketches Of Joseph Smith, The Prophet, And His Progenitors For Many Generations. Liverpool: Orson Pratt. ISBN 1425483836.
  • Republished under several titles, including History of Joseph Smith by His Mother
• Brodie, Fawn M. (1 August 1995) [1945]. No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet (2nd revised & enlarged ed.). Vintage Books. ISBN 0679730540.
  • Known as the first important non-hagiographic biography of Joseph Smith; continually in print for over seven decades.
• Remini, Robert Vincent (2002). Joseph Smith. Penguin. ISBN 067003083X.
  • A scholarly attempt at an objective portrayal of Joseph Smith by a historian of the Jacksonian era; part of the Penguin Lives book series.
• Vogel, Dan (2004). Joseph Smith: The Making of a Prophet. Signature Books. ISBN 1560851791.
  • A biography of the formative years, covering the period of Smith's life up until 1831; argues that Smith was a pious fraud, interpreting the Book of Mormon as springing from the his psychology and experiences.
• Caswall, Henry (1843). The Prophet of the Nineteenth Century: Or, The Rise, Progress, and Present State of the Mormons, Or Latter-day Saints: to which is Appended, an Analysis of the Book of Mormon. J. G. F. & J. Rivington. ISBN 1435751701.
  • The first biography ever written on Joseph Smith; a hostile account.
• Evans, John Henry (1 December 1989) [1933]. Joseph Smith: An American Prophet. Deseret Book Company. ISBN 0875792154.
  • Faithful biography presenting Smith "as a greater leader than Moses and a greater prophet than Isaiah.
• Hill, Donna (15 March 1999) [1977]. Joseph Smith: The First Mormon. Signature Books. ISBN 156085118X.
  • Comprehensive biography by a Mormon historian; described as having a temperate, balanced, middle-of-the-road approach— in the spectrum of pro and con biographies.

Brigham Young

• Arrington, Leonard J. (1985). Brigham Young: American Moses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-394-51022-4.
  • Admiring biography of Brigham Young, the 2nd President of the LDS Church (from 1847–1877); nicknamed the "American Moses" because he led his followers in an exodus through a desert, to what they saw as a promised land.
• Bringhurst, Newell G. (1986). Handlin, Oscar, ed. Brigham Young And The Expanding American Frontier. Boston: Little, Brown. ISBN 0316108227. .
  • Part of the Library of American Biography Series. Republished on 24 January 1997 by Longman ( ISBN 0-673-39322-4).

Others

• Newell, Linda King; Avery, Valeen Tippetts (1994) [1984]. Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, Prophet's Wife, "Elect Lady," Polygamy's Foe (second ed.). Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252062914.
  • Award-winning biography of Emma Smith.
• Whitney, Orson F. (14 January 2017) [1888]. Life of Heber C. Kimball: An Apostle, The Father and Founder of the British Mission. Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft. ISBN 1540792714.
  • Faithful biography of Heber C. Kimball, by his grandson.
• Walker, Ronald W. (1 August 2004). Qualities That Count: Heber J. Grant as Businessman, Missionary and Apostle. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University. ISBN 0842525505.
  • Essay collection discussing Heber J. Grant's life and service; from his birth to middle age, prior to becoming the 7th President of the LDS Church (from 1918–1945).
• Prince, Gregory A.; Wright, Wm. Robert (9 March 2005). David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism. Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah Press. ISBN 0-87480-822-7.
  • Biography of David O. McKay, the ninth president of the LDS Church (from 1951–1970).
• Avery, Valeen Tippetts (1 September 1998). From Mission to Madness: Last Son of the Mormon Prophet. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252023994.
  • Biography of the life of the youngest son of Joseph and Emma Smith, David Hyrum Smith.
• Launius, Roger D. (1 September 1995) [1988]. Joseph Smith III: Pragmatic Prophet. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252065158.
  • Biography of the founder of the RLDS Church, Joseph Smith III, which he led from 1860 until his death in 1914.
• Kimball, Edward L. (2005). Lengthen Your Stride: The Presidency of Spencer W. Kimball. Deseret Book. ISBN 1590384571.
  • Biography of Spencer W. Kimball, the 12nd President of the LDS Church (from 1973–1985), written by his son; focused exclusively on Kimball's ministry at Church President.
• Fox, Frank W. (1980). J. Reuben Clark: The Public Years. Brigham Young University Press. ISBN 0842518320.
  • Biography of J. Reuben Clark; focused on his time as an attorney and government servant, prior to being called as a Counselor in the First Presidency (from 1933–1961).
• Madsen, Susan Arrington; Jones, Emily Madsen; Thornton, Rebecca Madsen (2018). Fathers of the Prophets: From Joseph Smith to Russell M. Nelson. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book. ISBN 1629724483.
  • Collective biography of fathers of the leaders of the LDS Church; including Joseph Smith Sr., John Young, James Taylor, Aphek Woodruff, Oliver Snow III, Hyrum Smith, Jedediah Morgan Grant, John Henry Smith, David McKay, Joseph F. Smith, Samuel Marion Lee Jr., Andrew Kimball, George Taft Benson, Jr., John William "Will" Hunter, Bryant S. Hinckley, and George Spencer Monson.
• Quinn, D. Michael (2002). Elder Statesman: A Biography of J. Reuben Clark. Signature Books. ISBN 1560851554.
  • J. Reuben Clark's life and impact (intellectual and administrative) as counselor to three LDS Church presidents.
• Gibbons, Francis M. (14 January 2018). Daniel Bay, Gibbons, ed. Russell M. Nelson. Sixteen Stones Press. ISBN 1942640250.
  • Biography of Russell M. Nelson, the seventeenth President of the LDS Church; a collection of personal reminiscences, written by a former secretary to the First Presidency, drawing on more than sixty years of association with President Nelson; the eighth and final part of the series entitled Remembering the Prophets of God.