Mapping Mormonism - Second Edition

One of the greatest, most lucid, and most attractive historical atlases I own, and I own more than a few. LDS has a high opinion of the value of history, and it's clear that this is meant primarily for LDS members (although I got a great deal of use out of it for my US history work). However, it doesn't whitewash controversial elements of LDS Church history (polygamy, Mountain Meadows), and it treats the non-Brighamite successor churches charitably. That said, obviously there are areas that non-church historians would treat differently (or in greater depth), but in general I give this a hearty endorsement as a secondary/tertiary source for Church history.

Very interesting information

So much information and current details. You just need your reading glasses to read the small print. It had to be that way however to get much information on a book. Great resource but I am sure will needed to be updated often because of rapid changes. I would recommend and have several times

When we discovered some LDS ancestry in the family, we wanted to know more about patterns of settlers moving across the United States. This book gives so much detailed information about that. It also talks about Mormons all over the world.

An excellent resource with loads of information, maps, and charts. My only complaint is that some of the maps and charts are so small and filled with so much detail, they are difficult to decipher, particularly when the variations of color on the charts are so similar.

5 stars

This is a fascinating and almost unimaginably informative book. I learned things on topics I had never even considered before. Every time I turned the page I found yet another article that was fascinating to consider with useful maps, charts, timelines, illustrations, and brief articles to give me a path into the topic. This is most cool!This is a large format book so each page can provide a great deal of information. Sometimes, however, the charts are so full of information the print gets a bit small for my aging eyes, so I get out my little reading magnifying glass and all is well. But that is only occasionally. Most of the time I find everything in the articles to be clear and easily readable. A couple of charts with lots of differently colored lines get a tad confusing because some of the colors are very similar. The authors might have tried different textures on those lines, as well; that is, dots, dashes, combinations of them. But, again, the magnifying glass helps.The paper is very heavy stock and beautiful to look at, touch, and is quite durable so you can use it a lot without wearing it out (unless you are careless with it).The book is divided into four large sections. The first is “The Restoration” and takes us through the martyrdom of Joseph and getting ready to leave Nauvoo. The second section, is “The Empire of Deseret” and takes us through the settling of the Utah Valley and more through about 1910. The third section is “The Expanding Church” and takes us through the present day and how the Church has expanded from the Utah Valley into the entire world. The fourth section is “Regional History” with a focus on more detailed looks at the various geographic regions within America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. All fascinating material!Just a few articles that are among those I found surprising that I didn’t know the material already. On page 26 we get an article and map showing the travels of Joseph Smith. He travelled more than I had suspected even though I had known about the various journeys in his life, it makes more of an impact when I see them all on one map. On pages 80 to 83 we learn about the Pioneer Trails. On page 83 we see a beautiful chart of how the railroad completion happened in stages and made travelling to the Great Basic more rapid and safe. On page 164 we get an article on Administering the Worldwide Church, which encompasses my lifetime (1960 to the present) and I remember these changes and the growth as I grew and served my mission from 1973-75 in Queensland, Australia. On pages 238 and 239 we see an article on Australia and the Pacific Islands. A chart on 239 shows the explosive growth in Australia. It is my understanding that where we had one stake in Brisbane in 1973, there are six now! Fascinating.An excellent book that I recommend to anyone interested in LDS Church History and especially if, like me, you love tables, charts, graphs, and maps.Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Saline, MI

I'm not Mormon, but this is a tremendous resource. The graphics and the accompanying narratives are superb. Both the good (the international growth) and the bad (the divisions) of Mormonism are detailed.