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The Lion of the Lord: A Biography of Brigham Young (1969)

by Stanley P. Hirshson

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1507 The Lion of the Lord: A Biography of Brigham Young, by Stanley P. Hirshson (read 11 Mar 1979) Since my trip to Salt Lake City in July 1978 spurred my interest, I have now read this biography. Young was a pot, and this book is quite anti-Young. But the book is poorly-written, a hodge-podge, and never really tells the story as an expert biographer should. I do believe I know enough about Mormonism now, and should not have to read anything more about it. [But I subsequently did: on 9 Feb 2002 I read Mormon America: The Power and the Promise, by Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling.] ( )
  Schmerguls | Jan 11, 2009 |
In short, despite the impressive looking bibliobgraphy, this is biography based on hearsay, rather than on the kind of hard evidence that the scholar unearths by his diligence and insight in working through primary sources. This may account for the failure of The Lion of the Lord to describe and assess Brigham Young's problems and contributions in such areas as colonization, settlement, immigration, economic development, and ecclesiastical organization and management.
 
The present work offers us a superficial account of Brigham Young's life down to 1844, followed by a series of chapters roughly chronological, but dominated by a topical arrangement. However determined Mr. Hirshson may have been to look at Young steadily and whole, not for one minute, as he says, allowing himself to forget the esteem in which the Mormon leader is still held, his external and uncomprehending point of view reflects a singular lack of feeling for the dynamics either of Brigham Young's life or of Mormonism.
 
The sources exploited by Professor Hirshson and his interpretation of them testify that The Lion of the Lord has failed to reach the flesh-and-blood Brigham Young, leaving us rather with a caricature of the man drawn from news accounts of the period; the founder of a new western empire is transformed into a paper lion.
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...Professor Hirshson all but ignores the best of Mormon erudition — or fails to understand the thrust of its scholarship — rather, he clearly and consistently prefers non-Mormon sources, usually of a highly critical nature.
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Conflicting testimony on polygamy suggests that any judgment springs not from expertise, but point of view — the writer must attribute motives to the practitioner. The Lion of the Lord provides precious little insight on the subject and leaves the reader to conclude that Professor Hirshson is inclined rather to perpetuate nineteenth-century myths than to search for an understanding of the personal struggles created by "the peculiar institution."
 
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