Rating: 
Summary: A fraud caught red-handed
Review: This is an extraordinary little book which makes for excellent reading (leaving aside the absurd final chapter tacked on by the zealously pro-Christian publisher, against the author's will!)The story it tells is very simple. Joseph Smith, after completing the Book of Mormon, came across some genuine Egyptian papyruses (papyrii), which he then translated (ho ho) into English as "The Book of Abraham." He told everyone it was easy because it was written in the same "reformed Egyptian" as the gold leaves of the Book of Mormon. However, the gold leaves vanished, but these Egyptian documents did not (although the Mormons thought they had vanished, for some fifty years). No, the original documents showed up again, and by that time the world had an extensive knowledge of Egyptian and LOTS of people could read them. Well, they are the Egyptian Book of the Dead and related funerary documents. They date from around 50 BC. They obviously don't say a single thing about Abraham or ANYTHING in the Bible. Smith's "translation" is exposed as a complete piece of idiocy, matching perfectly his hilarious "notes on Egyptian grammar." (Joseph Smith knew nothing at all about Egyptian.) And this is one of the few cases where a "great religious leader" has been openly exposed, before the entire world, as a liar and a fraud. Of course, suspicions already were running that way, when we examined the Mormon theories about the Native Americans being the descendants of the Jews... Highly recommended!
Rating: 
Summary: Detailed Review of the Book of Abraham Controversy
Review: Charles Larson has written a very good book that discusses in detail the controversy over whether Joseph Smith really translated the Book of Abraham from Egyptian Papyri sold to him in the 1830's, or whether the book was derived through other means. Any intelligent reader who has researched this area--without fixed pre-conceived notions-- realizes that the papyri which were found in the New York Metropolitan Museum pose a terrific challenge to the authenticity of the Book of Abraham. Larson most impressively presents vivid photographs which show the symbols and facsimiles contained on the papyri. He than reviews claims of the LDS Church about the Book of Abraham and compares them with views by modern Egyptian scholars who have translated the writings. I was particularly impressed by the way that Larson documents that Smith included "Facsimile #1" from the Papyri which are currently in existence, as material in the Book of Mormon. Modern Egyptologists hold that both the facsimile in question, and the writing on that and related sections of the papyri have absolutely no relationship to the Biblical Prophet Abraham and instead are part of Egyptian funerary documents that were not created until centuries after Abraham supposedly lived. Equally impressive is the way that Larson reviews the rebuttal that LDS authorities and scholars have made to the claim that the papyri have nothing to do with Abraham. No less than eight separate theories have been postulated to account for why Abraham's text cannot be found anywhere on the papyri. One by one, Larson disposes of most of these claims. One cannot help but think that those arguing in favor of the authenticity of the Book of Abraham couldn't have done a better job making consistent arguments, before they allowed all eight of these to go into print. Interestingly, while continuing to insist the Book of Abraham is scripture, the LDS Church takes no official position on which of any of these theories may be the explanation for why the papyri that exist don't contain Abraham's words. I don't like the way that Larson shifts gears at the end of the book from a very professional examination of the Book of Abraham to arguing the case for Christianity, but this is more than offset by his use of logic and evidence to shed real light on the questionable origins of the Book of Abraham.
Rating:
Summary: This book was a wrecking ball to my testimony
Review: Being born a mormon and an active member for 30 years, my testimony would not fall easily, until I read this book. First it was the temple ceremony that shook me up, but I hung on for several more years. Then I realized how silly the first vision story is, but I hung in there for another year. Then I stumbled upon some websites about the Book of Abraham controversy. I downloaded a free copy of this book, read it, and that was the end of my testimony. That's how powerful this book is. The great thing is, when you finish this book, you don't have to pray to find out if it is true because you already know it is. Well researched, well documented and Larson does a great job of explaining the issues to non-Egyptologists. This is a true Work and Glory for those interested in mormonism.
Rating:
Summary: Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain
Review: While there are numerous bits and pieces that don't quite add up in Mormonism, the Book of Abraham is where Joseph Smith gets scaught red handed in his fabrications. Unlike the Book of Mormon, where the Angel Moroni spirited away the Golden Plates once Smith had finished his "translation", here is the documented proof that Smith was no "prophet, seer and revelator." Larson does an excellent job of tracing the controversy from the time that Smith first acquires the papyri through the first French translation by Champollion's students until the amazing discovery of the papyri in the late 1960s. His evangelical Christian agenda is apparent, but doesn't get in the way of his research until the last two chapters, when he presents his own religion as an alternative for disenchanted Mormons. Other than that, this is an excellent work. This is a must read for any Mormon or anyone curious about Mormonism. I have a hard time seeing how anyone could believe in Smith's tales after reading this damning book.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Sanity/Rationality Test
Review: Because my Ph.D. is in linguistics, it has been starkly apparent to me for decades that the Book of Abraham is a clear fabrication, as Larson's book very competently and clearly presents. But there's another, less-apparent though important, use for Larson's book: it serves as a highly practical sanity and rationality and honesty test for Mormons. Often, Mormons will read Larson's book and contrivedly explain away the solid points made in the book. "The mind has numerous ways to protect itself against knowledge it can't handle." If a Mormon reads this book and denies its validity, he/she has failed the sanity/rationality test. As I have known with clarity since 1968, which was shortly after the discovery of the papyrus pieces from which the Book of Abraham was allegedly translated by Joseph Smith, founder of the LDS Church, there is no possibility that the Book of Abraham resulted from any translation or inspired use of any ancient document. There is no linguistic legitimacy to the Book of Abraham.
Rating: 
Summary: Well written, but still scholarly false
Review: I will be the first to admit that Mr. Larson's book is extremely well written and articulated. It is on the surface, a well researched and well defined work. Unfortunately, it is incomplete. I don't feel that this is the forum to discuss this but would suggest anyone who reads it to read it with an open mind (Mormon and non-Mormon alike) and then do further research on your own. For those of you who are Mormon--read like books; for those who are not Mormon, read articles and books from their scholars. You will begin to see the inconsistencies with Mr. Larson's work even without the benefit of "faith". It is unfortunate that so many have stated that this is the end-all-beat-all work that disproves Mormonism, despite the fact that ALL religions have flaws and could be 'disproved' with any amount of scholarly work. This is the exact point of religion--to be based in FAITH not science.
I gave Mr. Larson's book 2 stars based on being very well written and interesting read but factually inconsistent. His logic is sound but when that logic is based on false premises or facts then the conclusion must also be false.
Rating:
Summary: Good info but somewhat outdated
Review: This book contains some good information. However it lacks current research and data which refutes most of the the arguments contained in the work. At best it is a selective work picking and choosing data for a given position. Also a very great detractor is the bit at the end, bashing one faith in favor of another. Clearly there is an agenda by the author to win converts to his beliefs. If you truly are interested in Papyri, or even in ancient cultures, I would suggest doing your own research. There are alot more intruiging comparisons to be found with new information coming from recent sites and artifacts.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling
Review: There are errors (e.g., the two-bird restoration of Facsimile 1 on p. 65 is probably incorrect), but they are few and far between and not damaging to the book's thesis. Overall, the scholarship is solid and extremely convincing. It's difficult to see how anyone could, after reading this book, continue to believe that Joseph Smith's Book of Abraham is a translation of an ancient Egyptian document. (I suppose faith can always find a way, though.) I gave it four stars (rather than five) because of the last chapter, a thoroughly unconvincing sales-pitch for "the" alternative to Mormonism -- viz., born-again Christianity. This is completely irrelevent to the subject of the book, and its pathetic appeal to blind faith stands in stark contrast to the rigorous, rational approach of the rest of the book. There's even a card in the back that you can mail to the author if you wish to inform him that you "made a decision for Christ" as a result of reading his book. This is all unforgivably silly, but fortunately it's just in that one chapter; the rest of the book is excellent.
Rating: 
Summary: Good but LDS should not read this
Review: This is a well written book which manages to not push an "anti-Mormon" agenda. However as an LDS I do not think others should read it. Why? Because it could destroy your faith in the Church. I am not trying to be clever. If you enjoy all of the good things the Church has brought into your life, do you care where it came from? No other Church has so short a history that it can be examined so closely by science. Otherwise we would find that they are all created on the backs of con-artist. I am willing to bet every religion was founded by a fraud. So who cares. Does religion bring us together? Does it bond a nation, a town, a family? If so then let it be. The truth is fleeting, and life is short. If believing in Santa makes children smile then believing in God makes adults smile. When children find out Santa isn't real, you kill a certain spark you can never get back. When you expose a Church as a fraud, you kill a little spark in all of us.
Rating:
Summary: the definite refutation of the
Review: I won't give a summary of this book ... But I would like to highlight one or two points. First, it is possible that the Book of Abraham/Joseph Smith Papyri episode is the most compelling reason to doubt the claims of the Mormon church. Well, perhaps not the most compelling, but certainly one of the most easily verifiable. Here, in less than 200 pages (Excluding appendix) is an irrefutable demolition of this pillar "sacred writing" of hte LDS church. What is particularly interesting is the way Larson establishes an airtight connection between apects of the story, whic the LDS church today would rather not hear about. Example: Joe Smith wrote in his "History" that he translated the papyrus, thus ruling out the despairing LDS efforts to suggest Smith merely used the papyrus as an aid to revelation. Larson's listing of the 5 "translation theories", 2 "revelation" theories, and the one "desperation" theory
sums up the LDS churhch's appalling problem with dealing with the facts. The author concludes that many Mormons do not know the full story about the Joseph Smith papyri, and are inclined to "trust" their leaders. But it is clear form readign this book that the LDS leaders have no answers and that the alleged source for the LDS doctrines of pre-existence, multiple gods etc, is nothing more than a pagan Egyptian funerary text, dating 1400 years after the time of Abraham, who according to Smith wrote the thing in the first place. The appendix is also excellent for refuting the red herring arguments of the book "They Lie in Wait to Deceive" which discredits Dee Jay Nelson and thereby (quite illogically) tries to discredit anti-Joseph Smith papyri scholarship. As regards the latter prts of the book where the author presents his own Evangelical Protestant beliefs, I would side with the view that it was better left out, particularly because as a Catholic I would find fault with his views, but the author nevertheless does not detract from the central thesis of his book. All in all, a must for anyone investigating Mormonism.
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