Mormonism and the Making of a British Zion
Matthew Lyman Rasmussen author
Format:Hardback
Publisher:University of Utah Press,U.S.
Published:30th Jul '16
Should be back in stock very soon
Mormonism in Britain began in the late 1830s with the arrival of American missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Not long afterward, thousands of British converts emigrated to Utah and became a kind of lifeblood for the early Mormon Church. England's North West, where Mormonism had its strongest presence, has become a place of profound significance to the church, yet its early importance to Mormonism has never been fully explored. Matthew Rasmussen's detailed account examines how Mormonism has changed and endured in Britain.
After many British believers left for America, church membership in England fell so sharply that the movement in Britain seemed to be on the brink of collapse. Yet British Mormonism gradually rebuilt and continues today. How did this religious minority flourish when so many nineteenth-century revivalist movements did not? Rasmussen explains Mormonism’s inception, perpetuation, and maturation in Britain in a compelling case study of a “new religious movement” with staying power.
“The finest comprehensive study of the LDS Church in an international setting that I have ever read. Beautifully written, very well organized, and superbly well researched, Rasmussen’s study takes the reader on a journey through three distinct phases of Mormonism in the United Kingdom.”
—Richard E. Bennett, author of Mormons on the Missouri—And Should We Die, 1846–1852 “An outstanding LDS history book. I don’t know of any other books like this one. Matthew Rasmussen is a gifted writer.”
—Ronald Watt, author of The Mormon Passage of George D. Watt: First British Convert, Scribe for Zion “Mormonism and the Making of a British Zion should rightly act as a standard for other aspiring historians seeking to resurrect Mormonism’s international story.”—Association of Mormon Letters “First, Rasmussen is a gifted writer whose English prose is enviable at least and awe-inspiring at best. As a recipient of a bachelor of arts in English from the University of Utah, he has found his canvas in this book and has utilized his skill as a literary artist. Second, his research methodology is equally inspiring. . . . At every turn, it is clear Rasmussen is bringing to the reader every available resource imaginable to expertly craft his story.”—BYU Studies “Matthew Rasmussen gives us a good read, incorporating named local individuals and events within the wider dynamics of US church strategy. Non-Mormon readers will learn a great deal about the LDS Church at large in and through this cameo of an unusually ‘sacred space.’”—Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, Brigham Young University
ISBN: 9781607814870
Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 25mm
Weight: 633g
308 pages