Reconsidering No Man Knows My History: Fawn M. Brodie and Joseph Smith in Retrospect

by Newell G. Bringhurst

Fawn Brodie's biography of the founding Mormon prophet has received both praise and condemnation since it's publication in 1945. In 1995, at a symposium to mark its fiftieth anniversary, several scholars gathered together to re-examine Brodie, her Joseph Smith biography and its continuing importance. Bringhurst has brought together many of the essays from that meeting.

Genres: Religion, Mormonism, History, Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1996

Reviews

[David Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a series of articles about the original biography. I didn't read them all, and probably only a specialist in history or biography would really want to do that. I did read two of the articles and skimmed a third.

The most interesting and most accessible article, I think, is the first, which is entitled "A Biography of the Biography: The Research and Writing of _No Man Knows My History_". Having just read Bringhurst's biography of Brodie, a lot of this was redundant information for me. But I would recommend it in lieu of the full FMB biography for those who are more interested in her Joseph Smith book specifically.

Lavina Fielding Anderson's article on literary style, the fifth article in the book, was an interesting look at Brodie's writing style with lots of excerpts which give you a flavor for the prose of the original biography. Which might be useful to someone thinking about whether or not to read the biography. I found it interesting, but I have to confess I did skim through a lot of it.

Todd Compton's article on Brodie's treatment of polygamy in the biography contains interesting information about what Brodie got right and what she got wrong, pointing out that the Church's decision to withhold access to some early church records deemed too sensitive for public consumption backfired on them in Brodie's case in a sense in that it caused her to come down harder on Smith in a couple of minor cases than she otherwise might have.

All in all, though, if you're not a historian and are more interested in biography for its own sake without feeling like you need to revisit the details of how sources were utilized in its creation, then I'd recommend skipping this and moving straight to _No Man Knows My History_ itself or another good biography such as Bringhurst's biography of Brodie or perhaps Newell and Avery's _Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith_. Boyd Peterson's Nibley biography is a great read, as well, as is the David O McKay bio by Greg Prince

[Ariane · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting collection of essays from various historians--the best, from Lavinia Fielding Anderson. All take aspects to critique about Brodie's history of J Smith.

[Joe Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some very interesting articles, but hardly definitive.