Patrick Mason
"Mormonism is no more a monolith than the country that gave it birth and has shaped the religion throughout its two-century history. In Benjamin Park’s spirited telling we encounter a story full of drama, irony, conflict, and the ongoing search for meaning and community. Readers will discover in American Zion a fascinating history resonant with our current era of cultural contestation."
BookPage
"Absorbing . . . American Zion presents an engaging account of the personalities that loom large in the religion . . . But Park also shows how events and attitudes outside the church have divided the faith. He traces its complicated history of racial bias; its misogyny and, fascinatingly, history of feminism among early Mormon women; its stance on LGBTQ+ rights; and how a church still governed largely by elderly white American men is faring as its membership grows internationally."
Booklist
"American Zion is an engrossing read and an ambitious historical recounting of an American religion that was contested from its earliest beginnings."
Harper’s - Dan Piepenbring
"Park… frames the church as an experiment within the American experiment, one regularly thwarted by the nation’s hithering and thithering."
The Economist
"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as it is officially known, has long defined itself simultaneously as a product—and an opponent—of America....Mr Park, a historian at Sam Houston State University in Texas and a Mormon himself, traces the faith from its roots in New York in the 1820s to 2022, when TikTokers exposed racist and homophobic attitudes at Brigham Young University... America, and the religion it inspired, remain ever intertwined."
The New Yorker
"Park delves into Mormon history and lore to produce a picture of the institution as one that is both marginalized and marginalizing."
Kevin M. Kruse
"As Benjamin Park makes abundantly clear in this engaging history, the Mormon faith is fundamentally an American one. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been repeatedly transformed by the cultural wars that have raged in this nation and has, in return, transformed the nation. Deeply researched and deftly written, American Zion is a must read."
Kristin Du Mez
"With enviable ease, Benjamin Park somehow manages to pack two centuries of Mormon history into a riveting narrative that is as smart as it is engrossing. Distinguished by its colorful cast of characters, rich historical detail, and elegant analysis, American Zion promises to stand the test of time as the definitive history of Mormonism in America."
Association for Mormon Letters
"A monumental achievement."
David Azzolina
"A book about Mormonism that will stand the test of time. General readers should be riveted by a story well told; scholars will be engaged by arguments worth debating."
Library Journal
★ 12/01/2023
Synthesizing the massive archive of primary and secondary sources on Mormonism is no small task. Park (history, Sam Houston State Univ.; Kingdom of Nauvoo) not only admirably achieves his goal by offering new and different interpretations, but he also gives readers fresh insights into well-worn territory by utilizing his gifted storyteller's pen. The overarching narrative of the book follows the Church of Latter-day Saints in its American context, from pre-establishment in the 18th century to the present day. Internal and external conflicts are covered. The book documents the contributions of LDS women, and their voices are present in every era, although sometimes muffled. Still, Park makes sure they are heard. Questions about racism in the LDS Church are addressed, and Park acknowledges that sometimes the institution was complicit. Contemporary issues of sexuality and polygamy are also given their due. Park has a knack for highlighting the right historical figures, known and unknown, to make serious points about the bigger picture of Latter-day Saint history. VERDICT A book about Mormonism that will stand the test of time. General readers should be riveted by a story well told; scholars will be engaged by arguments worth debating.—David Azzolina
Kirkus Reviews
2023-09-19
A history professor takes on the history of a faith that has “been contested from the very start.”
Mormonism—officially, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—is the product of a period of religious fervor that swept the northeastern U.S. in the 1820s and ’30s, a venue for enough fire-and-brimstone sermonizing that the area was called the “burned-over district.” In that context, Joseph Smith unveiled a story of a lost Christianity native to America in which his “religious and supernatural obsessions…intersected.” Moreover, it emerged in a time of schismatic religions, otherworldly obsessions, and a widespread belief that buried treasure awaited discovery everywhere. Smith’s story became the Book of Mormon, “America’s most substantial contribution to the world’s scriptural canon.” Park, the author of Kingdom of Nauvoo, is respectful but not uncritical. He is particularly interested in the near-reversal of two of Mormonism’s foundational tenets, the first being an independent theocratic state, the second polygamy, “Utah’s worst-kept secret.” Both gave Mormonism the reputation of being anti-American, even if early Mormons “nearly canonized” the Constitution. In response, the church’s leadership decreed an ultra-patriotic, conservative worldview. Whereas Utah overwhelmingly voted for Franklin Roosevelt during the 1930s and ’40s, its voters chose Donald Trump over Joseph Biden even more enthusiastically in 2016 and 2020. One of its leaders, Ezra Taft Benson, was so committed to his racist doctrine that he came close to signing on as segregationist Strom Thurmond’s running mate in 1968. Today, even as the Mormon leadership has adopted a policy allowing unencumbered historical research such as Park’s, there are ongoing doctrinal battles involving race, gender, and politics—battles that may soon take a surprising turn, given that Republicans are in the minority among Mormon millennials, who espouse many progressive ideas.
A welcome updating of earlier studies, and a readable, engaging work of religious history.
