Who's Who in the Doctrine & Covenants

by Susan Easton Black

Great reference book, January 11, 2007 by Debra This is a great book with lots of history and detail not available in very many sources. The alphabetical listing of individuals is especially helpful. I am using it while teaching seminary D&C. Who's Who an invaluable resource, January 29, 2005 by Michele We have LOVED this book. In researching names and people found in the Doctrine & Covenants, it has proved an invaluable resource! We've learned so much regarding those involved in the restoration of the gospel--details we had forgotten or didn't even know

Genres: Lds, Religion, Nonfiction, History, Biography, Church

364 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Susan Easton Black is a retired professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah. She is also an author of several books related to Joseph Smith, Jr. and the early history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book for the most part because I haven't seen another quite like it. I would have given it five stars, but there were too many traditional rumor stories the author chose to include that should have been left out and she weighed in too much on an individual's faithfulness or lack of it at times, so it only gets three from me.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, I confess I enjoyed this book. However, I was unhappy with the sometimes contradictory reporting and preoccupation with the faithfulness of individuals over the complexity of challenges many early Saints faced. One example of this is how Black prefers the Thomas B. Marsh "milk strippings" legend over Marsh's own published reasons for leaving the Church. I find Marsh's real reasons to be very insightful, if somewhat less "faith-promoting" than the legend.

Another niggling bother was the apparent choice to not use value-neutral language when describing characters who later chose not to follow Brigham Young and the Twelve, but rather associated with the broader Restoration Movement. These were difficult choices for thousands of Saints, and to dismiss other groups by simply labeling them "apostate" is unfortunate.

I still rate the book with four stars, because it fills an important niche. Like Joseph Smith, we can thank God for a little johnny-cake while we pray for something better.

[Tricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE this book! Grandpa is the one that told me about it. It is totaly a must have for anyone reading the D&C. I am a huge fan of this author anyway, having heard her speak before. She is one of the most knowledgeable people on church history in the world.

[Brianna Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helpful and easy to read

This helps me understand the doctrine and covenants so much better. Each person is described briefly and many include interesting stories I hadn’t heard before. I am excited to review this book as I continue my study of the Doctrine and Covenants.

[Marla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Top 2 in my list of favorite Doctrine and Covenants commentary. The lives of the people during the early Restoration really tell the story. I love this book. They’re not comprehensive biographies by any means, but they give you enough real insight into their journey. Hindsight is 20/20.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

good so far. gives a page or two history of every person mentioned in the Doctrine and Covenants. Pretty interesting.

[Vincent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent reference book. Tells short bios of the people spoken of in the Doc and Covs.

[Carl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book alongside the reading schedule for the Doctrine and Covenants in 2025's "Come, Follow Me" curriculum for my Church. It helped me have a better sense for some of the less well-known members of the nascent Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but I think it isn't as good as it could be for two reasons.

First, would it have killed them to have an appendix of any kind? I had to basically make my own so I could know when to read each person's biographical entry.

Second, in 2025 this book is slightly outdated by the good scholarship that has come out since its publication in 1997. This is no fault of Dr. Black's, of course, but just a warning to those picking it up in the future.

What I found most fascinating is that early on it became apparent that an astonishingly high number of the people mentioned in the D&C and thus in this book ended up apostatizing from the Church. I eventually started a spreadsheet to track them. Final totals for the various categories I made were as follows.

* Remained True: 67
* Temporarily Left: 12
* Apostatized: 50
* Assumed Apostatized: 5 (There just isn't enough information either in this book or in my own quick research to confirm their final status.)
* Never Joined: 4

If anybody's interested in that spreadsheet, I made it on google docs, and it can be found here.

I ended this year's scripture study with the astonishing realization that 43% of the people mentioned by name in this book of scripture did not end their lives united with Christ's church. I don't know why I find that so disappointing and harrowing. A warning to us all, perhaps, to remain humble and do our best to align ourselves with God's will lest we find ourselves a cautionary tale for others in the future—as 43% of these entries were for me.

[Nolan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I had used this book two years ago when I was teaching a Come Follow Me Zoom class on the Doctrine and Covenants. It is concisely written and tells you essentially all you need to know about the individuals whose names appear in the Doctrine and Covenants. I was saddened by all the apostasy. I suspect the 21st-century church is headed for similar sadness, and I constantly pray I'm not among that forlorn group who willingly steps into the darkness of doubt and into the abyss of faithless fear. I can't imagine any greater degree of unhappiness. This really is an outstanding book.

[MaryAnne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great reference book. I didn’t give it 5 stars because I think it’s written with the assumption that the reader knows many back stories. For the back stories I didn’t know I looked them up in other sources for clarification. Also, it’s missing an index that lists the names by section. I created one for myself.

[Terrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An overview of each individual mentioned in the Doctrine & Covenants. I especially enjoyed reading about these early pioneers of the Church and coming to see them as real people with real personalities and problems.

[Swhe641200 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Libby. Book of all those in The Doctrine and Covenants as sketch of their lives. It sadden my heart to see so many great men have such strong Testimonies and lose them. How important to watch for Pride in our lives and Endure through everything to the end.

[Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading all these short bios and getting to know these real people better. It helped my scripture studies so much this year.

[Kylene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't read all of this. Used as a reference.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent details for teaching!

[Magyar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy this as a reference as I'm studying the Doctrine & Covenants, although I've read it all through probably several times by now.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is really just a reference book, but it is also fun to read.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the idea of this book. It has a short biography of each person that is named in the Doctrine and Covenants. It is not a book that you would sit and read cover to cover. I read this along with my study of the Doctrine and Covenants so, it took all year. It was interesting to read about the various people. Some of the people are very well known and if you know a lot about church history, you would know about them. But, others, names I had never heard of. Susan Easton Black is one of my favorite people. She is a great teacher, wonderful speaker, and I never grow tired hearing the stories she tells. The research for this book must have been a tremendous undertaking. I was amazed at how many of the people named actually apostatized from the church. I wonder how many others, named and un-named, stayed true.

[Richard (Rick) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easily my favorite book on church history because it tells the stories behind the names--all the names--mentioned in the Doctrine and Covenants. Sister Black is amazingly thorough in her research, and a strong message comes through the stories of "the choice" (the title of one of her talks) that we all face as members: Will we endure or will we choose to leave the church when the going gets rough? For most of the people mentioned in the D&C revelations the answer was unfortunately the latter.

A great book for understanding the D&C as we study it this year.

[T.K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am really happy with this book. Each person mentioned in the Doctrine & Covenants gets about 2-3 pages. For those lesser known individuals, it's a full synopsis of their lives. For Joseph Smith or Emma, 3 pages is understandable cursory, but if you wanted to know more about them, there are plenty of biographies out there. For everybody else, it's a very satisfying enrichment of Doctrine & Covenants study.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading a short biographical blurb about the people who lived and were mentioned in the D&C. I quite enjoy reading about their lives and find this a useful resource. Sometimes I wish there were a little more information about some of the people (ones who were well known and could have had a lot more written) though I also understand that this is meant to be short tidbits about each person. I like the book and I'm glad I read it in conjunction with my study of the Doctrine and Covenants.

[Dr. · Rating 1 out of 5]

What do you get when you plagerize students, who have plagerized others, and you mass market sell it to Latter-day Saints? This crap. Full of historical inaccuracies, poor referencing, and problems, this book should be banned from LDS homes. It is the primary reason that among actual historians, the author's name lives only in infamy.

[Grey Ghost · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good reference for "the rest of the story" if you're really interested in Church history and the people who made it happen in the early days. May not be the kind of book you'd read from cover to cover (unless you're me!), but a great one to have around when you're reading the D&C and ask yourself, "I wonder what happened to HIM?"

[Annette · Rating 5 out of 5]

During my reading of the Doctrine and Covenants this book was invaluable! I know I'll use it in the future but during my reading it has been so fun to be able to look up each individual and read about their history. Susan Easton Black has done a fantastic job in compiling this information to make my studying so much fuller. She's one of my heros:)

[Nanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great resource book while reading the Doctrine and Covenants. It gives context to the revelations and a long-term view of the individuals which is how the Lord would see them as he gives them the revelation, rather than the immediate, microscopic view at only the time of the revelation. I will continue to use this is a reference.

[TJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute must read for anyone interested in the people involved in the D&C. Informative, comprehensive biographical sketches that add incredible depth to all those characters and answers the always present question of "whatever happened to..."

[Jamille Parks · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was really interesting and fun to learn a little more about the people in the Doctrine and Covenants and come to know how they shaped Church history. I would recommend only reading maybe five a day. It gets long at some points of the book.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best companion book about history of the people in the Doctrine and Covenants. Wonderful stories and information that gives insight into the people's lives. Wonderful!!!

[Keri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love discovering who the people are and were; making them real helps me relate to the message they teach.

[Ardath · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a helpful book for studying the Doctrine and Covenants, but it is kind of superficial.