On the Way to Somewhere Else: European Sojourners in the Mormon West, 1834-1930 (Kingdom in the West)

Homer (chairman of Utah's Board of State History) has collected a range of European writings reporting on their encounters with the early Mormons of the American West, thus providing a variety of hitherto neglected alternative views on the religious group. The writings include "those of an outraged Catholic priest, an intrigued German prince, a liberated Frenchwoman, an insightful Italian count, a devout French convert, and an embittered Danish apostate," to quote the foreword. In addition to showing how European visitors saw the Mormons, the writings contain historical details on the early Mormons not found in other documents, such as Mormon military plans during the 1858 Utah War. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)