Rating: 
Summary: an excellent book
Review: A well-researched and documented book. Ms. Brodie did much of her research in the Mormon Church's archives and library, and because David O McKay (a former president of the Mormon Church) was her uncle, she had access to documents that other researchers did not. This biography portrays Joseph Smith (the founder of Mormonism) as a fraud, a con-man, and a seducer of women. For instance, Brodie documents how Joseph Smith defrauded his church members in the Kirtland Anti-Banking scandal, swindling them of their money and their land. Brodie also documents how he sent various men on church missions and seduced their wives while they were away. These are just two examples of frauds Smith perpetrated. The book is controversial because many Mormons feel that the book is an attack on their church founder, and they claim that it is bad history. Ms. Brodie attempted to enter the mind of her subject and explain what motivated Joseph Smith, in this regard she crosses the line between history and psycho-analysis. An excellent read.
Rating: 
Summary: Honest Look at the Mormon Prophet
Review: Having been raised to see Joseph Smith as something just short of a God, many members of the LDS church are quite surprised to read the realities of the Joseph Smith story; the natural reaction is, ..., to lump Brodie in the "anti-Mormon" author category and defend the foundations of their faith. Interestingly enough, Brodie was still in full fellowship with the Church at the time of the book's publication, seriously dampening the "anti-mo" theory.Proven time and again in the decades since the publication of "No Man Knows..." is the veracity of Brodie's sources and research. One simply has to thumb through the pages of sources at the end of the book to appreciate how exhaustive Ms. Brodie's research was. Not only does she utilize and cite "objective," non-mormon sources, but there are a number of quotes taken from church sponsored writings, i.e. _History of the Church_. As a former missionary for the church, I appreciated Ms. Brodie's own objectivity in her writing of _No Man..._. So often the material members of the LDS Church are presented with is so slanted and negative. Ms. Brodie frequently points out Joseph's intelligence, passion, and creativity. Ultimately, Ms. Brodie's biography of Joseph Smith feels sympathetic towards the prophet's weaknesses and his sincere desire and urge to be a prophetic holy man. Ms. Brodie makes sense of questions that have long troubled members of the Mormon church, such as polygamy, the causes of Joseph's final incarceration at Carthage, and the continual rotation of early church leaders. In fact, I found Ms. Brodie's hypothesis on the foundations of polygamy far more satisfactory and sensible than any I have ever heard in my 23 years in the church. Though certainly not recommended for the conservative, nonquestioning member of the LDS church, this book will provide an invaluable look at the most prominent character in all Mormonism for those with an interest in the Prophet and his vision.
Rating:
Summary: Important book to read to understand mormonism
Review: Ms Brodie's book is an important book to read if someone is wanting to understand mormonism and its founder Joseph Smith. Her scholarship is fair and balanced. With her access to the LDS church's archives,(her uncle was one of church's "prophets" ) she was given and invaluable look into that church's history . The substanciated information and details she gives in her book is something that the church prefers that its membership not know about. If someone is truly and objectively looking at the LDS church, "No Man Knows My History" is one book that is a must read as they consider what the LDS church has to offer.
Rating:
Summary: Very entertaining biography of Mormon founder
Review: I was somewhat reluctant to pick this book up, as biographies tend to put me to sleep. However, Ms. Brodie's work is without doubt the best biograpy I have read. Her subject, the Mormon founder Joseph Smith, is presented from his infancy up to the time of his death, with the social and political background also covered, and it makes fascinating reading. Ms. Brodie leaves the reader with the impresison that Smith was a con-artist of the highest order, who dreamt up supposed "revelatons" ("thus saith the Lord") at will, and I found myself saying "this guy can't have had the nerve to do what he did". In spite of his deception, the reader can't dislike the character. But it is also made quite clear that Joseph Smith, with all his personal charisma, was certainly no "prophet of God". He was a first-rate deceiver. The story Fawn Brodie writes reads as an adventure tale of a colorful conman who, sadly, met his end before he mended his ways. Verdict: don't be put off by the fact it's a biography. It's an enthraling read. Especially recommended to LDS readers, who will find out a bit about Smith they won't have known before.
Rating:
Summary: A classic, well worth a look
Review: One former LDS leader has said that Joseph Smith is either a true prophet, called by God, or he is the greatest liar and deceiver who has ever lived on the face of this earth. Fawn Brodie grew up as a Mormon, and I'm sure it pained her to uncover the facts that she did in her extensive research. (She was later excommunicated from the LDS Church, which I think is the wrong thing to do. She merely wrote a historical book; did the LDS leaders truly want her to repress the facts?) In No Man Knows my History, she uncovered the real Smith, the one who wanted to be prophet/military commander/president, etc. He is not the same person many Mormons have perceived him to be. The research is sound and, while very historical (obviously, since that was Brodie's specialty), extremely readable. It kept my interest throughout the book. I think it behooves a person to be very critical when it comes to following any leader. If the leader is from God, I think this will prove itself. If he is not, then common sense says to leave and search after what is real truth. This truth is only found in the God of the Bible, not the God that Joseph Smith said was "once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned on yonder heavens." I think Brodie has gotten many followers of Joseph Smith to rethink their faith, and I am glad it is so very popular today.
Rating:
Summary: Yes Ma'am, That's History
Review: I owe a debt of gratitude to the late Fawn M Brodie. It is largely through this book that many of my questions about Mormonism were answered. It is largely due to her that I left Mormonism. My feelings towards Mormonism are fairly neutral. I certainly do not wish any ill towards Mormons. I continue to hold many of them in very high esteem. However, this does not change the fact that there are very serious historical questions regarding the founding of early Mormonism. I've not yet seen a reasonable, balanced, and scholarly (as opposed to polemical, and Dr Nibley's work on this topic does fit in this category) response to Mrs Brodie's pioneering work.
Rating: 
Summary: Not historical and not objective
Review: Don't waste your time on this book. While it may be entertainingly written, it is non-objective and largely fictional. I recommend you read Hugh Nibley's devastating review, "No, Ma'am, That's Not History," reprinted in Tinkling Cymbals and Sounding Brass, pp. 3-52, ISBN 0875795161. As previous readers have pointed out, Nibley's review is currently out of print (although the full text is available online). Here are excerpts from Nibley's review: 'Our guide first makes up her mind about Joseph Smith and then proceeds to accept any and all evidence, from whatever source, that supports her theory. (Cf. Fawn M. Brodie's 1975 statement: "I was convinced before I ever began writing the book that Joseph Smith was not a true prophet," in "Biography of Fawn McKay Brodie," interview with Shirley E. Stephenson, 30 November 1975, Oral History Collection, Fullerton State University, Fullerton, CA, p. 10.)... 'The fact that two theories or books present parallelisms, no matter how striking, may imply a common source, but it certainly does not in itself prove that the one is derived from the other.... Mrs. Brodie sees parallels everywhere.... There is the case of a herdsman who kills a number of rustlers with a sword. Now herdsmen have been fighting with rustlers since the dawn of time, but for Brodie this is simply a direct steal from the story of David and Goliath. Again, the barges of the Jaredites "contained everything which the settlers might need on the new continent," like any Chinese junk, Viking ship, or the Mayflower itself; in fact, ships have a way of carrying with them whatever the personnel will need. Brodie, however, knows that the whole thing is a dishonest adaptation of Noah's ark. Certain fortifications of earth and timbers mentioned in the Book of Mormon resemble those in western New York-also, we add, in Russia, England, Africa, France, China, and everywhere else. Such structures are universally common to a certain type of warlike culture.... 'She will cling to the theory that all the Prophet's thought and action were the result of a slow and gradual evolution. This is an easy mechanical rule-of-thumb that may be employed to make any thesis sound very scientific.... By the end of 1843, to fit the evolutionary scheme of things, "Joseph was now fully intoxicated with power and drunk with visions of empire and apocalyptic glory"; he "by now had become a law unto himself, [with]...utter incapacity for contentment with a moderate success." Yet this maniac "suffered from no illusions about his chances of winning the supreme political post in the nation"; his campaign utterances are models of acumen and common sense-"What other voice in all the madness was so sane?" asks Don C. Seitz in his study of the campaign of 1844. Yet Brodie passes by the speeches and writings of the campaign in perfect silence-they would destroy her smooth curve of evolution.... 'The culmination of Joseph's megalomania finds him without courage, "empty of conviction when he needed it most." Again we search for the little birdie that tells Brodie these things.... Is this history? To present as facts what a man might have or could have or even possibly would have been thinking on an occasion when, far from revealing his thoughts, he covers them up, is a good game; but a book built up of alternate layers of psychological speculation and haphazard sources that only support them if accepted with a certain peculiar interpretation-such a book is not history.... 'One of Brodie's favorite insinuations is that Joseph Smith was a charlatan because he constantly used the language of the King James Bible.... That is the equivalent of accusing an author of stealing words from the dictionary. Jesus and the disciples constantly spoke the language of the prophets, not in the original, but in the religious idiom of their own time and place. Just so, the prophets themselves quote from the Psalms and the Mosaic Law. Now the religious idiom of the West was the language of the King James Bible; that was and still is the standard of "formal" English for great occasions.... 'She tells the plausible enough story of a guy named Joe, who walks and talks and laughs and looks just like Joseph Smith. Only there the resemblance ends.... Brodie's Joseph is decidedly not the man who produced the Book of Mormon; for the former is wildly imaginative, undisciplined, lazy, and short-sighted, while the Book of Mormon is the work (even if you take it as fiction) of an exceedingly sober, self-controlled, incredibly industrious, and well-organized brain.... 'Brodie's Joseph is the man who works by personal magnetism and dispenses his far-fetched and jumbled ideas by rhetorical legerdemain. This is not the Joseph who won his following among the artisans and farmers of Great Britain, Scandinavia, and Switzerland-a finely disciplined, hard-headed, and Bible-bred generation which was looking for light but not interested in vaudeville or voodoo....'
Rating:
Summary: Yes Ma'am, That IS History !
Review: As a former Mormon, I found this book to be extremely eye-opening and it answered many of the questions that the Missionaries could not or would not answer for me. I have read many reviews of this great book calling it tripe and that it is a rag written by a someone with an axe to grind. Sorry, but if you read, REALLY read this book, then you will see that it was not put together on a whim and that it was footnoted and researched to the nth degree. The only reason that this book gets negative reviews is that the people reading it giving those reviews do not WANT to accept the truth and want to keep their minds closed. I have not seen one valid argument from an opponent of this book other than to say it is trash and is full of lies and half-truths. Well, back those statements up with facts as Ms. Brodie has done in her wonderful book. I recommend this book wholeheartedly to people wishing to know the truth about the birth of Mormonism. Don't take my word for it though, read it through and make your own judgement, but I think you will see that at a a time when America was gullible and open to new religions, Joseph Smith took advantage of that and preyed on the minds of those people and many an individual, myself included, have been lured into it since that time.
Rating:
Summary: Are you kidding
Review: Let me save you the time of trying to read every review on Amazon. Each review falls into one of two categories. Non-LDS individuals who want to slam Joseph Smith and LDS individuals who support Joseph Smith. Depending on which camp the reviewer is in will dictate their review of the book. Anyone who tells you they are indifferent is simply avoiding the truth. Only Mormons or anti-mormons would take the time to read this worthless book. Anti-mormons will point to Ms. Brodie's scholarly reputation. Because this book wasn't written by Ed Decker or (Dr.) Martin it somehow doesn't fall into the anti-mormon category. Rather, this now becomes pure history. Please keep in mind that just because Ms. Brodie attempts to be scholarly doesn't actually mean that she is scholarly. Putting worthless footnotes after every sentence doesn't make you a historian or a good writer. But being able to discriminate between reliable and unreliable sources does. Ms. Brodie, from a scholastic perspective, fails miserably. Some have argued that she didn't have an axe to grind or that she was still a friend to the Mormons even after publishing this book. Yeah right. I have yet to meet a Mormon who has read her book and thought that it was an unbiased review of the life of Joseph Smith. It sure sounds good to claim that Mormon's in high places have read and enjoyed your book. I just want to know who those people are. The moral of the story is simple. If you want to "debunk" the LDS church then go ahead and drop some change on this classic. It is full of things that aren't true, but they sure sound good. The information can prove to be very useful in writing a good anti-mormon sermon or gearing up for a crusade night. If you are a latter-day saint don't waste your money on this. It is the same old recycled garbage that has floated around about the church for almost 200 years. Rumors, stories from apostates, anecdotes by individuals who had a clear agenda to bring down the church line every page of this book. If you want a truly critical and accurate review of the life of Joseph Smith there are a hundred books better suited for your sincere quest for knowlegde. Ms. Brodie has succeeded in one thing. This book, above all else, shows just how pathetic scholarly attempts at bringing down the LDS church have been. When you have to resort to half-truths, lies, and fables, it only verifies and validates my belief. Christ always taught by truth. Those that oppose him taught with hate and inaccuracies. Christ doesn't need to support his position by making things up or by relying on people that lie at every chance they have to distort the truth. In the end the ultimate source of truth won't be found in the books written by man. In the end an answer to a prayer will lead the pure in heart to our Heavenly Father's truth.
Rating:
Summary: The Life of Joseph Smith
Review: One theme that emerges from reading the reviews of this book on Amazon.com is that almost all of the non-Mormons appreciated the book and thought it was worth a read. Most, if not all, of the reviews by Mormons were scathing reviews of both the book and Ms. Brodie's personal character. This is no doubt because the author writes of Joseph Smith's life, the gold-mongering, the rampant polygamy (justified by a revelation-of course), and the other very human desires and actions of Joseph Smith factually and without bias. If an unbiased look into the life of Joseph Smith is what you're looking for, then this book is for you. If you wish to believe that the character of Joseph Smith is unmarred by greed, power-mongering, murder and adultery, then you should stick to LDS-sanctioned biographies; since this bio will leave the honest reader seeing Joseph Smith as, very much, just a man; who, although full of charisma, charm and vision, certainly lacked in honor.
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