Race and the Making of the Mormon People.

In this outstanding analysis of the role of race among Mormons, Mueller (Univ. of Nebraska) argues that the Mormon religion developed the view of three original American races--red, black, and white. The vision and interpretation of scripture and the Book of Mormon by Joseph Smith and other Mormon leaders led to a view of race that both confirmed and departed from the traditional view of race in the US, namely that white was good and black was evil. Which is to say, the religion allowed that black people who converted to Mormonism could achieve a white aspirational racial identity. Mueller uses Jane Manning James (featured on this book's cover), an early black convert, to show the dilemmas that race created for Mormons. Was she a servant, or an adopted daughter of Joseph Smith? But the book has flaws. Although the issue of race was important, the problem of plural marriage was even more crucial, and Mueller needed to expand on the Mormon belief in and practice of polygamy, which led to the violent expulsion of the Mormons from towns and cities across the US. It also led to their trek to the Great Salt Lake in Utah and their establishment of Salt Lake City and the great Mormon temple. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. --Lawrence H. Mamiya, emeritus, Vassar College