Rating: 
Summary: A Timeless Classic in Mormon Studies
Review: I've consummed a library of books on Mormon studies, and had held off on reading "No Man Knows My History" because I had already read a considerable quantity of biographical material on Joseph Smith. I capitulated at last only because it is among the most well known books on early Mormon history. I am so glad I did. No book could have pulled it all together and made sense of it all as well as Fawn Brodie's book. It is as valuable today as it was when it was first written over half a century ago. None of the objective scholarship of recent years contradicts her conclusions, but rather validates her, page after page after page. Her insight is piercing, her style is almost poetic, and her message is powerful. It is not any easy book for a Mormon to read, as is evidenced by some of the reactionary attacks Brodie receives in some of the reviews already written. The faithful do not want to hear that Joseph Smith was an "evolutionary revolutionary," his doctrine growing with his ego and sense of personal magnificence. But this is no mean swipe at the character of Joseph Smith...if anything, you come away with a sense of awe at the creative genius, the charismatic giant that he must have been. If he brought scorn and violence upon himself and his people, it was a measure of the power he produced and the fear that he struck in lesser men with whom he shared his time and space. Nevertheless, Brodie's exploration of the world of Joseph Smith and the context within which his doctrine evolved is brilliant. She is adept at recognizing the role that projection has played throughout his career, beginning with the Book of Mormon, and continuing on through all of his other writings, including the History of the Church. Ms. Brodie says it best herself in the opening lines of Chapter 19: "A man's memory is bound to be a distortion of his past in accordance with his present interests, and the most faithful autobiography is likely to mirror less what a man was than what he has become." Or as is so often the case, "less what a man was than what he wished he had become." To one who has studied the role of paradigms in shaping the way we interpret our world, Brodie's book makes the most beautiful sense. To one who's faith is at stake, however, her book may serve to threaten the idylic, heroic legend of Joseph Smith that has been carefully nurtured since his murder in 1844. This is among the finest pieces of historical literature I have had the priveledge of reading. Her scholarship and writing and fearless approach to tackle controversial issues with objectivity and sensitivity is matched only by Juanita Brooks in the realm of Mormon studies. This is a book not just to read, but to consume.
Rating: 
Summary: Still the Best Biography of Joseph Smith....
Review: Fawn Brodie's biography of Joseph Smith is still the best book ever written about him that has been published. In a way, that's a shame. "No Man Knows My History" was published in 1945, so historians have had 56 years to write a better book. For some reason, that hasn't occurred. Other books written about Smith, such as Donna Hill's "Joseph Smith, the First Mormon" are not nearly as critical and insightful as they need to be. Legitimate criticisms of the book include the fact that it is written more to be interesting than a strictly scholarly work. Brodie does use interesting language and sometimes draws too much on the flamboyant and theatrical parts of Joseph Smith's personality. Additionally, while its been proven Brodie reached a pretty accurate conclusion, in the first edition of her book she relies too much on the so-called "Pearsall transcript" of Smith's 1826 trial for money-digging in Bainbridge, NY. Although, subsequent research bears out most of the conclusions. "No Man Knows My History" is not without a number of weaknesses. It is clear that Fawn views Smith as a fraud and an impostor. Perhaps, she didn't look hard enough to find some "middle ground" between "Prophet" and "fraud". Maybe, Smith really believed he was transcribing ancient scripture and had been annointed by God to be Prophet, when in fact he did not. Some people do suffer hallucinations. In fact, a number of people who are terribly rational most of the time claim to have dreams or revelations occasionally which can only be described as "supernatural". Another possibility is he really believed he was inspired to lead people to Christ, but invented the Book of Mormon to get the attention of people. Brodie does not adequately take into the account the following in my estimation: 1. The sincerity expressed in the writings in Joseph Smith's own journals which have been published and are available to read. 2. The fact that the three witnesses to the Golden Plates, Cowdery, Whitmer, and Harris, never retracted their statements about the Plates and the Book of Mormon, even on their death beds. (although they admitted they saw the Plates with their "spiritual eyes", as opposed to their "physical eyes"). 3. The fact that Smith was willing to face being persecuted, tarred and feathered, and killed rather than give up what he was preaching. There is a puzzle to Smith claiming to be a "prophet" that has never been adequately explained by anyone. Although, there is plenty of evidence refuting Smith's claims and those of his church. The weaknesses, though, are more than offset by the research she did and the material she found. She documents the fact that Smith's father had a dream which later appeared in its entirety in First Nephi in the Book of Mormon, that Smith was tried for being an impostor and moneydigger in an 1826 court proceeding in Bainbridge, New York, that Smith routinely used to seer stones and claimed that with these stones he could see buried treasure underground, and in her 1971 edition, reported the three conflicting accounts that have been given of Smith's First Vision. Finally, she talks about the fact that Smith did not translate other scripture, the Book of Abraham, from Egyptian Papyri as claimed. However, Brodie's greatest contribution is in establishing the context and background in which the Book of Mormon was produced. She talks about the many millenial religious movements where Smith grew up, the commonly held views that Indians were really descendants of Hebrew tribes, anti-catholic prejudice, anti-free masonry prejudice, and prejudice against people with darker skins. One can find elements of all of these in the Book of Mormon if one looks closely enough at it. One who wants too, can see how the Mormon religion and the Book of Mormon arose from this context. No Man Knows My History is a classic. While it would be a mistake to read nothing else about Joseph Smith, skipping the book is missing the best biography that currently exists about him.
Rating:
Summary: No ax to grind
Review: When Fawn Brodie began her research for this book she was an active, believing Mormon with no ax to grind. She simply wanted to write a book of the history of the Mormon church.
With blessings from the church hierarch including all the apostles and prophets she was given full access to all official church history and records in the church owned vault at their headquarters in Salt Lake City.
During her research of the church archives she made a shocking discovery that all Mormonism was based on a lie began by the founder Joseph Smith and his 1st vision which included the Golden Plates, the Book of Mormon, polygamy on and on.
As she was about to publish her book and make public the factual findings and history of her church she was threatned with excommunication from her faith if she followed through with publication of the book.
Upon publication of the book the Mormon church made good on their threat of excommunication and she was dishonorably kicked out of the church and declared persona-non-grata.
Since its publication in the mid 1940's it remains one of the most definitive and accurate accounts of the actual beginnings and history of the Mormon church. Although she is now deceased her book is still used as source material in modern day independent church history publications.
Try to find a copy of a recently deceased Mormon apologist's book (Hugh Nibley), where he unsuccessfully tried to discredit her and you you will have extreme difficulty in locating one.
Her book on the other hand is still widely available even after more than 50 years since it's 1st printing. I think that pretty much says it all.
This was one of the 1st books I read which led to my de-conversion from the Mormon cult dogma. It is high on my list of recommended books documenting the real and factual history of the Mormon Church.
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant scholarship & writing; questionable methodology
Review: "There are no facts, only interpretations," Friedrich Nietzsche says, a maxim that should be applied when reading any book on history, especially one on a character as controversial as Joseph Smith.
There is no question that Fawn McKay Brodie deserves credit for her seven years of exhaustive research on the life of Joseph Smith, as well as for her engaging writing style and interesting narrative. Whether one agrees with Brodie or not, her book's strengths are instantly recognizable, a fact that has ensured the book's popularity over the decades.
But there are deep flaws associated with her book, as anyone with even a cursory training in reading history will recognize. She dismisses out of hand any contemporary sources written by those who view Joseph Smith as a prophet, while giving credence to any and all who saw him as a fraud. Whether one does or does not believe in the divine claims of the Mormon Church, it can be agreed that certain evidence must be dealt with by a responsible historian. For example, Brodie treats surprisingly lightly the strength of the testimonies of the three and eight witnesses -- she quotes from Governor Ford to explain away the reality of the witnesses' experiences, while not satisfactorily addressing the fact that none of them ever denied what they experienced.
Her interpretive methodology also is problematic. She admits that before even writing the book she was convinced that Joseph Smith was not a true prophet. Beginning with such an agenda ensured that no facts that she came across in her research would possibly come between her and her interpretation. In the end her book is as one-dimensional as all the others -- which books she castigates in her introduction. Brodie would have done well to follow Dale L. Morgan's advice in which he advised her not to paint Joseph Smith as a conscious fraud, but to provide a milder interpretation in which Mormon and non-Mormon alike could read the book and disagree only in minor interpretive details. Instead, Brodie's book allows for no possible alternative to her version of Joseph Smith, an over-simplification of an enigma who nobody can presume to fully understand.
In addition to her shortcomings as a writer of history, Brodie is clearly out of her league in her attempts to provide the reader with a psychosexual analysis of Joseph Smith. Brodie was not qualified to psychoanalyze any living person, let alone a complex and enigmatic man who died 100 years before she published her book. This is problematic precisely because her psychoanalysis colors her interpretation -- she arrives at conclusions with baseless premises.
These are flaws serious enough that I cannot give the book more than two stars. That being said, it is the most comprehensive book on the life of Joseph Smith, whether one agrees with Brodie or not (only Donna Hill's book comes close). "No Man Knows My History" had the potential to be great, but my feeling is that Brodie, in trying to dissociate herself from the faith of her childhood, was too emotionally invested to provide a more dispassionate, objective interpretation of the life of Joseph Smith. Richard Bushman is the next historian to take up the gauntlet with his "Rough Stone Rolling," a nearly 800 page book due out in October - hopefully Bushman succeeds in writing the book that Dale Morgan suggests, but perhaps such a book on someone as controversial as Joseph Smith is not possible.
Rating: 
Summary: Fawn Brodie Distorts History
Review: Fawn Brodie is a woman who researched her subject carefully and then, and this can be proven, created her own make-believe sources and quoted them. She took actual events and then twisted them ever so slightly to add a negative bent to the event. How do I know this - I have spent the last two years in extensive research of Joseph Smith, Jr. I read dozens of books, diaries, letters and journals. Fawn Brodie's was by far, the worst one I read because she took a personal agenda and applied it to an historic subject. She should have stuck to the truth, not created quotes and sources, then she may have had a real book on Joseph Smith, Jr.
Rating:
Summary: Horrible buy
Review: The author tends to portray the faults of man and exploits the information with her judgement instead of the true facts. The author doesn't present accurate information concerning certain subjects and twists the stories on other matters. If you want to read a book about someones opinion on a certain religion, then this book is for you. However, if you would like to learn about Joesph Smith's biography look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: A Book That Can Produce Unexpected Conclusions
Review: I read Fawn Brodie's well written biography of Joseph Smith when I was a proud independent thinking agnostic. I gobbled up the book in two sittings (again it's very nicely written) and I was fascinated by Fawn Brodie's revelations of Joseph Smith as a confidence man and generally lovable rogue whose schemes succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.
Also, her theory that freemason ritual provided the basis for Mormon Temple ceremonies is particularly interesting.
However, after carefully pondering the book, I reached the conclusion that, for whatever reason, God had raised a Prophet on the New York frontier. After struggling with this belief for a few years, I finally joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I'm very glad I did. Today, as I've learned more about him, I easily acknowledge Joseph Smith as a Prophet, Seer, and Revelator.
Who knows? Sometimes the message is conveyed in mysterious ways.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Choice for a Non-Mormon
Review: As a non-Morman living in Utah, I am often confronted with Mormon rhetoric. One hears propoganda about the religion and, without the knowledge base, one can't help but believe what many Mormons are so earnest about...their religion. However, after reading Brodie's book, I am now armed with questions, facts and details that refute what Mormon's are raised to believe. What I can't understand is how so many Mormon's refuse to read this factual, well-documented history of the man they basically worship? If they don't buy into Brodie's actual words, why don't they dig through the references she readily supplies? I am so intrigued that a man of such proposterous ethics can create such a following? And, how can so many truly intelligent Mormons not question the integrity of this man and this religion? This book is very, very insightful.
Rating:
Summary: A lie that is still in print
Review: This book is a cheap reconstruction of old anti-mormon beliefs of the past. In this book Brodie takes accounts that fit her intent to show that the Prophet Joseph Smith is a false prophet who means well. She uses accounts from people who are not reliable in there stories and who from the beginning didnt like the prophet. This is just another person trying to jump on the band wagon of anti-mormon books who likes to use lies to prove there point. Its time to get a life people and not continue trying to look for things that are not true to prove your point. You want to know the real history of the prophet Joseph Smith ask a missionary from the LDS church. Dont go to a Ford dealerhip to get information on a Chevy you'll get Ford's side of the story not Chevy's. Let think logical. Another book that you should read is "Tinkling Cymbals and Sounding Brass" by Hugh Nibley
Rating:
Summary: Dry but informative
Review: I bought this book hoping to learn about Joseph Smith, and the circumstances surrounding the formation of his church. I got exactly that. It wasn't a real page turner though. In fact, I had to force myself to continue reading it about half way through.
Mrs Brodie seems to have done a lot of research and presents it pretty well. There were a couple of instances where I thought she was reaching a bit, but she indicated herself that these instances were only theories, or possibilites, so in that regard I have to give her a lot of credit. These instances were also very trivial matters, in my opinion. The more substantial claims, such as the "translation" of the plates, and the polygamy can be verified through LDS sources, and are much more damaging to the church's credibility than this book could ever be.
In fairness, I attempted to read "No Ma'am, that's not history" by Hugh Nibley. I say "attempted", because like most apologists, Mr Nibley seems to dance around issues rather than addressing them directly. I got tired of waiting for him to make a point and quit reading.
In conclusion, if you want to learn about Joseph Smith, and read a very credible explaination for the circumstances regarding the foundation of the LDS church, read this book.
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