Brigham Young: American Moses

Rating:
Summary: It's a pity more biographies like this don't exist.
Review: Brigham Young was undoubtedly one of the most intriguing leaders of the 19th century. There exist many biographies on him, most of which are not worth your time. This book, however, is a notable exception. Possessing a talent for objectivity that is all too rare in biographical literature, and much less when religion or personal values are involved, Arrington presents the story of the life of Brigham Young in a real sense. He achieves what so many cannot--the ability to evaluate the man in an unbiased way and still be true to his beliefs (Arrington was a member of the Mormon church). The author does a wonderful job of presenting Young as a human being, complete with faults and failures. In so doing, however, the dignity and majesty of his character are in no way compromised. The facts and events of his life are presented as they really occurred, without the taint of bias or speculation, and should be informative and unoffensive to Mormon and non-Mormon alike. For a true in-depth look in the life of this modern Moses, this book is definitely worth your time.

Rating:
Summary: A very safe biography
Review: This biography proves to be a very informative life account of one of the great leaders of the LDS as well as one of the prime movers of the American West. But Leonard Arrington avoids the major controversies that surrounded Brigham Young, exhorting on his virtures rather then his faults. While that does not make a bad biography, it doesn't show us the complete man. Arrington make it clear that Young was the right man for the right job at the right moment in history. Without his leadership, intelligence and gusto, the Mormon church probably won't have survived the death of Joseph Smith, its founder. Arrington revealed how talented, how skilled and how devoted Young was to his church and how he put all he had into it. But what Arrington failed to get into, was some of Young's failings which must be just as important as his accomplishments. Arrington played into the traditional Mormon defense on Mountain Meadow Massacre, doesn't question Young's devotion to plural marriages which often rallied the rest of the nation against the Mormons and Young's racist attitudes - especically toward blacks that the LDS Church didn't resolved until the 1970s. Although these are just examples, they presented long term problems that Young left behind and they should have been address by the author. But overall, its still a good biography and worth the effort in reading it and understanding the basic essence of the man.

Rating:
Summary: Bigham Youngs best biography
Review: This is certainly by far the best biography ever written on a very important figure in western American history. It is very well documented. Arrington does not skip the controversies, it is all layed out. I certainly came away with a greater understanding of Brigham Young. Leonard Arrington was the head of the Mormon churches hisorical department for years and had a great influence on many Mormon historians to write honest and concise history. My only criticism is sometimes Arrington overly discusses economics in Utah rather then other aspects of Brigham Youngs life. Overall though it is great!