Secret History

Rating:
Summary: Rare window into Mormonism of 1850s
Review: Not many who left Utah in the 1850s left a record of their impressions and reasons. Although Ahmanson stayed in Salt Lake City for only four+ months, he had been a Mormon for six years and a missionary in Norway and Denmark. He traveled with one of the ill-fated handcart companies to Utah. His descriptions of the journey, what Salt Lake looked like, and Mormon beliefs and practices are valuable. Less valuable is the much later account of the Mountain Meadows massacre. Ahmanson's reasons for leaving parallel those of other disillusioned Mormons of that period: polygamy, the leaders' denial of polygamy when they were practicing it, less-than-honest leaders (cases of swindling & greed), fear of Danites, the preaching of blood atonement, and some beliefs such as Adam is God. Well worth while.

Rating:
Summary: Book Jacket speaks loudly.....
Review: One of the best eyewitness accounts of early Mormonism. "Secret History" reveals the horrific early roots of this sect. Mormonism holds true to the early church but the modern LDS church will deny that they do. The blood atonement, polygomy, man can become a god, polytheism, are some of the beliefs held by the Mormons today. This is highly recommended by anyone thinking of joining the LDS church or wanting to understand it's early history.

Rating:
Summary: Shocking Factual History of Early Mormonism
Review: Secret History (of Mormonism) is a "must read" translation of eyewitness accounts of the origins of the Mormon church by this Danish author who was an early member of the Mormon church. Of all books written about Mormonism, my guess is that this one would be on the Top 10 list of those that the LDS church surely would want to keep out of the hands of its people.

Through Ahmanson's eyes, you learn about how truly disreputable Mormon founders Joseph Smith and Brigham Young really were. Ahmanson's account reaches a climax with a detailed chronicle of the infamous Mountain Valley massacre in which, at the personal direction of Brigham Young, an entire wagon train of non-Mormon settlers (less some of the youngest children) from Harrison, Arkansas were brutally wiped out by Mormon militia. [I've also seen the monument that now stands in a park in downtown Harrison, Arkansas, commemorating the victims of this massacre.] The Secret History concludes with the U.S. Army's military intervention in Utah and the installation of a governor.

Ahmanson's book, which is translated from Danish, is truly both a valuable American historical account and religious treatise on the cult of the Latter Day Saints/Mormon church. One of the things that was particularly interesting to learn was how Brigham Young actually intended for the Mormon church to ultimately overthrow the United States of America -- and viewed United States sovereignty over Utah as being a hindrance to his attempts to create a totalitarian Mormon theocracy.

After you read this book, you will soon realize, as Ahmanson eventually did, that there is much that is totalitarian and little that is "Christian" about the LDS Church and Mormon religion. I heartily recommend this book for all seekers of truth who are not content with the "politically-correct" and highly revisionist versions of early Mormon history espoused by the LDS church.

Rating:
Summary: Book Jacket speaks loudly.....
Review: Secret History (of Mormonism) is a "must read" translation of eyewitness accounts of the origins of the Mormon church by this Danish author who was an early member of the Mormon church. Of all books written about Mormonism, my guess is that this one would be on the Top 10 list of those that the LDS church surely would want to keep out of the hands of its people.

Through Ahmanson's eyes, you learn about how truly disreputable Mormon founders Joseph Smith and Brigham Young really were. Ahmanson's account reaches a climax with a detailed chronicle of the infamous Mountain Valley massacre in which, at the personal direction of Brigham Young, an entire wagon train of non-Mormon settlers (less some of the youngest children) from Harrison, Arkansas were brutally wiped out by Mormon militia. [I've also seen the monument that now stands in a park in downtown Harrison, Arkansas, commemorating the victims of this massacre.] The Secret History concludes with the U.S. Army's military intervention in Utah and the installation of a governor.

Ahmanson's book, which is translated from Danish, is truly both a valuable American historical account and religious treatise on the cult of the Latter Day Saints/Mormon church. One of the things that was particularly interesting to learn was how Brigham Young actually intended for the Mormon church to ultimately overthrow the United States of America -- and viewed United States sovereignty over Utah as being a hindrance to his attempts to create a totalitarian Mormon theocracy.

After you read this book, you will soon realize, as Ahmanson eventually did, that there is much that is totalitarian and little that is "Christian" about the LDS Church and Mormon religion. I heartily recommend this book for all seekers of truth who are not content with the "politically-correct" and highly revisionist versions of early Mormon history espoused by the LDS church.