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The King of Confidence: A Tale of Utopian Dreamers, Frontier Schemers, True Believers, False Prophets, and the Murder of an American Monarch
In the summer of 1843, James Strang, a charismatic young lawyer and avowed atheist, vanished from a rural town in New York. Months later he reappeared on the Midwestern frontier and converted to a burgeoning religious movement known as Mormonism. In the wake of the murder of the sect's leader, Joseph Smith, Strang unveiled a letter purportedly from the prophet naming him successor, and persuaded hundreds of fellow converts to follow him to an island in Lake Michigan, where he declared himself a divine king.
From this stronghold he controlled a fourth of the state of Michigan, establishing a pirate colony where he practiced plural marriage and perpetrated thefts, corruption, and frauds of all kinds. Eventually, having run afoul of powerful enemies, including the American president, Strang was assassinated, an event that was frontpage news across the country.
The King of Confidence tells this fascinating but largely forgotten story. Centering his narrative on this charlatan's turbulent twelve years in power, Miles Harvey gets to the root of a timeless American original: the Confidence Man. Full of adventure, bad behavior, and insight into a crucial period of antebellum history, The King of Confidence brings us a compulsively readable account of one of the country's boldest con men and the boisterous era that allowed him to thrive.
From this stronghold he controlled a fourth of the state of Michigan, establishing a pirate colony where he practiced plural marriage and perpetrated thefts, corruption, and frauds of all kinds. Eventually, having run afoul of powerful enemies, including the American president, Strang was assassinated, an event that was frontpage news across the country.
The King of Confidence tells this fascinating but largely forgotten story. Centering his narrative on this charlatan's turbulent twelve years in power, Miles Harvey gets to the root of a timeless American original: the Confidence Man. Full of adventure, bad behavior, and insight into a crucial period of antebellum history, The King of Confidence brings us a compulsively readable account of one of the country's boldest con men and the boisterous era that allowed him to thrive.
401 pages, Hardcover
First published January 26, 2020
355 people are currently reading
5381 people want to read
About the author
Miles Harvey
39 books101 followersMiles Harvey's new book is The King of Confidence: A Tale of Utopian Dreamers, Frontier Schemers, True Believers, False Prophets, and the Murder of an American Monarch, which National Book Award-winner Nathaniel Philbrick calls a "masterpiece" and Pulitzer Prize finalist Dave Eggers describes as a "ludicrously enjoyable, unputdownable read." It will be published by Little, Brown & Co. in July 2020.
Harvey's previous work includes The Island of Lost Maps: A True Story of Cartographic Crime, a bestseller USA Today named one of the ten best books of 2000, and Painter in a Savage Land: The Strange Saga of the First European Artist in North America, awarded an Editors’ Choice honor from Booklist, and a best-books citation from The Chicago Tribune. A former Knight-Wallace journalism fellow at the University of Michigan, Harvey teaches creative writing at DePaul University, where he is a founding editor of Big Shoulders Books.
Harvey's previous work includes The Island of Lost Maps: A True Story of Cartographic Crime, a bestseller USA Today named one of the ten best books of 2000, and Painter in a Savage Land: The Strange Saga of the First European Artist in North America, awarded an Editors’ Choice honor from Booklist, and a best-books citation from The Chicago Tribune. A former Knight-Wallace journalism fellow at the University of Michigan, Harvey teaches creative writing at DePaul University, where he is a founding editor of Big Shoulders Books.
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June 11, 2020
I enjoy a good nonfiction book that teaches me about a bit of history I was formerly unaware of. And how could I pass up one that’s compared to The Devil in the White City? The King of Confidence gives us James Strang, who goes from being an avowed atheist to the successor of Joseph Smith for a portion of the fledgling Mormon church. A charlatan of the first order, Strang declared himself a divine king and took an island in Lake Michigan as his kingdom.
The writing at times is overly flowery. But the story itself is great fun and paints a fascinating picture of the times. “...in antebellum America, reality was porous”. This was the age of P. T. Barnum, another confidence man of the first order. Despite being a book about a single individual, Harvey does an excellent job of showing us how the turbulent temperament of the country allowed for so many cons, so many false utopias. In fact, I enjoyed the book the most when it concentrated on what defined the decade and painted a broad picture.
On rare instances, it did drag which keeps it from being a five star book. But for those who enjoy nonfiction, make sure to add this to your reading list.
My thanks to netgalley and Little, Brown and Company for an advance copy of this book.
The writing at times is overly flowery. But the story itself is great fun and paints a fascinating picture of the times. “...in antebellum America, reality was porous”. This was the age of P. T. Barnum, another confidence man of the first order. Despite being a book about a single individual, Harvey does an excellent job of showing us how the turbulent temperament of the country allowed for so many cons, so many false utopias. In fact, I enjoyed the book the most when it concentrated on what defined the decade and painted a broad picture.
On rare instances, it did drag which keeps it from being a five star book. But for those who enjoy nonfiction, make sure to add this to your reading list.
My thanks to netgalley and Little, Brown and Company for an advance copy of this book.
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March 18, 2025
‘Fortune always favors the brave, and never helps a man who does not help himself,’ said P.T. Barnum, a phrase that embodies the nature of confidence men throughout history. If there is money to be had or power to be one, you can be sure to find these shady characters eager to please and cloaked in charisma to weasel their way to the top. Usually cheered on by the adoring fans they’ve seduced and swindled along the way. I’m sure you probably have one that comes to mind already. One of the most bizarre tales of such men comes from my home state of Michigan where, in the mid 1800s, self-proclaimed Mormon prophet and member of the Michigan House of Representatives Joseph Strang declared himself the King of Beaver Island and ruled it as his sovereign state. With an impressive depth of research and gripping narratorial style, Miles Harvey examines Strang’s strange history in The King of Confidence: A Tale of Utopian Dreamers, Frontier Schemers, True Believers, False Prophets, and the Murder of an American Monarch, weaving and winding through the antebellum US and around a slew of historical figures and everyday folks as Strang slithers his way to his own monarchy. A thrilling history of cons, counterfeiting, armed robbery, murder, and more, The King of Confidence is as engaging a read as any thriller novel and paints an excellent portrait of the social and political conditions that practically roll out a red carpet for confidence men like Strang to usurp power and control.
‘James J. Strang, innocent target of religious persecution—like all his personae, this one proved to be a mask. Yet it was exactly those masks—those endless layers of ambiguity—that gave the man his charisma.’
Beaver Island is located in the northern part of Lake Michigan, the largest in an archipelago of islands and is a paradise of beaches and forest. Currently only around 600 people live there and it is largely vacation homes for wealthier people. Yet from 1848 to 1856, Joseph Strang made it his base for his religious experiment as the leader of a theocratic monarchy. A quick and chaotic rise to the top is often followed by an abrupt and dramatic end, which was the case for Strang, but the history is fascinating. At times an attorney, a newspaper editor, a Baptist minister, a writer for the New York Tribune, a sitting member of State congress and, eventually, king, Strang lived a wild life full of wild claims and as many wild failures as successes, but his charisma and sheer determination kept him afloat. ‘Strang had already perfected his talent for telling other people just what they wanted to hear,’ Harvey write, ‘so a dose of skepticism is in order for any belief he professed—a double dose for the ones he professed passionately.’ But in hard times, people turn to those who profess to be strong and decisive and give us people like Strang.
Beaver Island, Michigan
Never one to let a good murder go to waste, Strang followed up the murder of Joseph Smith—the founder of Mormonism—in 1844 by claiming an angel came to him saying he was to lead the Latter Day Saints (Harvey rather whimsically starts the book from the perspective of the angel watching Smith being shot as he jumps out a window, it makes for quite the powerful opener). Brigham Young was not down with this and after some bitter feuding Strang would go off to lead a splinter cell of Mormons. This story is full of misadventures with Strang always bouncing back somehow stronger and more confident than ever, gaining followers and multiple wives around the country to eventually bring them to Beaver Island. There they would fund themselves counterfeiting and robbing people at gunpoint. Which sounds like a party, don’t get me wrong.
‘A “businessman,” meanwhile, was not just a craftsman who made goods or a merchant who traded them, but a more fluid kind of capitalist, constantly finding new ways to turn a profit.’
What is really fascinating about this book is the way Strang just keeps on going and never lets a failure get him down. And how despite outlandish claims and lack of evidence (the angel returns with scrolls and such but nobody ever sees them, they just have to take it on “faith”) people keep following him. ‘The historical record indicates that utopian and apocalyptic cults and communes first appeared as a major form in the United States during this epoch,’ Harvey tells us. Nowadays we’d look at these groups and call them a cult or extremist groups but back in the days of antebellum America this was a bit of a phenomenon that people didn’t exactly have the knowledge for dealing with it. And what was history but the loudest, strongest folks steamrolling their way into power. As the quote commonly attributed to Confucius goes, ‘a great man is hard on himself; a small man is hard on others,’ and those looking for a person to follow tend to avoid the great men and women and instead cheer on the small man who tears others down to look strong because they like to feel like they are on the winning team. To be on the side of the strong.
The book concludes on a rather powerful statement that really wraps up the whole purpose of exploring this story. Sure, Strang gets his ass shot (not by the government but his own people, though the authorities give them such a tiny slap on the wrist fine that might as well have been a handshake and a hearty ‘thank you, we wanted that dude dead’) but Strang is not the problem but rather a symptom of the social ills. As Harvey writes:
As Mark Twain once wrote ‘history never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme,’ and leaders such as Strang con themselves into power all the time, it’s practically the only American Dream left. They present themselves as saviors but are only out for themselves and power and leave destruction and hurt in their wake. These are men that ‘have no heart, no sympathy, no reason, no conscience. They will keep no friend, unless he make himself the mirror of their purpose; they will smite and slay you, and trample your dead corpse under foot.’ And we must watch out for them.
Well researched and a rather fast-paced and gripping book, The King of Confidence is a wild tale of history that also serves as a warning to the present. It lags a bit in the middle under the weight of all the comings and goings are intricate portraits of Strang’s crew, but it remains a rather engaging read nonetheless and I learned a lot about US history reading this book. This was a read with my bookclub and we all enjoyed it. Strang was a ‘confidence artist to the very end,’ and a bizarre lesson to us all.
3.5/5
‘James J. Strang, innocent target of religious persecution—like all his personae, this one proved to be a mask. Yet it was exactly those masks—those endless layers of ambiguity—that gave the man his charisma.’
Beaver Island is located in the northern part of Lake Michigan, the largest in an archipelago of islands and is a paradise of beaches and forest. Currently only around 600 people live there and it is largely vacation homes for wealthier people. Yet from 1848 to 1856, Joseph Strang made it his base for his religious experiment as the leader of a theocratic monarchy. A quick and chaotic rise to the top is often followed by an abrupt and dramatic end, which was the case for Strang, but the history is fascinating. At times an attorney, a newspaper editor, a Baptist minister, a writer for the New York Tribune, a sitting member of State congress and, eventually, king, Strang lived a wild life full of wild claims and as many wild failures as successes, but his charisma and sheer determination kept him afloat. ‘Strang had already perfected his talent for telling other people just what they wanted to hear,’ Harvey write, ‘so a dose of skepticism is in order for any belief he professed—a double dose for the ones he professed passionately.’ But in hard times, people turn to those who profess to be strong and decisive and give us people like Strang.
Beaver Island, Michigan
Never one to let a good murder go to waste, Strang followed up the murder of Joseph Smith—the founder of Mormonism—in 1844 by claiming an angel came to him saying he was to lead the Latter Day Saints (Harvey rather whimsically starts the book from the perspective of the angel watching Smith being shot as he jumps out a window, it makes for quite the powerful opener). Brigham Young was not down with this and after some bitter feuding Strang would go off to lead a splinter cell of Mormons. This story is full of misadventures with Strang always bouncing back somehow stronger and more confident than ever, gaining followers and multiple wives around the country to eventually bring them to Beaver Island. There they would fund themselves counterfeiting and robbing people at gunpoint. Which sounds like a party, don’t get me wrong.
‘A “businessman,” meanwhile, was not just a craftsman who made goods or a merchant who traded them, but a more fluid kind of capitalist, constantly finding new ways to turn a profit.’
What is really fascinating about this book is the way Strang just keeps on going and never lets a failure get him down. And how despite outlandish claims and lack of evidence (the angel returns with scrolls and such but nobody ever sees them, they just have to take it on “faith”) people keep following him. ‘The historical record indicates that utopian and apocalyptic cults and communes first appeared as a major form in the United States during this epoch,’ Harvey tells us. Nowadays we’d look at these groups and call them a cult or extremist groups but back in the days of antebellum America this was a bit of a phenomenon that people didn’t exactly have the knowledge for dealing with it. And what was history but the loudest, strongest folks steamrolling their way into power. As the quote commonly attributed to Confucius goes, ‘a great man is hard on himself; a small man is hard on others,’ and those looking for a person to follow tend to avoid the great men and women and instead cheer on the small man who tears others down to look strong because they like to feel like they are on the winning team. To be on the side of the strong.
The book concludes on a rather powerful statement that really wraps up the whole purpose of exploring this story. Sure, Strang gets his ass shot (not by the government but his own people, though the authorities give them such a tiny slap on the wrist fine that might as well have been a handshake and a hearty ‘thank you, we wanted that dude dead’) but Strang is not the problem but rather a symptom of the social ills. As Harvey writes:
‘Eventually the facts of his life faded into obscurity. But people like James Strang never really vanish. When the time is right, they reappear, wearing a new guise, exploiting new fears, offering new dreams of salvation. Americans are fixated on such figures, especially in periods of profound social and economic upheaval.’
As Mark Twain once wrote ‘history never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme,’ and leaders such as Strang con themselves into power all the time, it’s practically the only American Dream left. They present themselves as saviors but are only out for themselves and power and leave destruction and hurt in their wake. These are men that ‘have no heart, no sympathy, no reason, no conscience. They will keep no friend, unless he make himself the mirror of their purpose; they will smite and slay you, and trample your dead corpse under foot.’ And we must watch out for them.
Well researched and a rather fast-paced and gripping book, The King of Confidence is a wild tale of history that also serves as a warning to the present. It lags a bit in the middle under the weight of all the comings and goings are intricate portraits of Strang’s crew, but it remains a rather engaging read nonetheless and I learned a lot about US history reading this book. This was a read with my bookclub and we all enjoyed it. Strang was a ‘confidence artist to the very end,’ and a bizarre lesson to us all.
3.5/5
January 1, 2021
Interesting book. Not quite what I expected as it dealt, basically, with a con man who became a Mormon and then split with the main body of the church and began a separate group that lived on an island and from where he was able to con a lot of folks as to his being the true head of the church and moved there. Just an OK read
July 23, 2022
James Jesse Strang was a real estate huckster with monarchic ambitions, had a creative relationship to debt and a genius for mass media. Before his assassination in 1856, he ruled over a breakaway Mormon colony on Beaver Island, close to the Straits of Mackinac in Michigan.
In 1843, Strang was baptized by Joseph Smith in the Mormon capital of Nauvoo, Illinois. After Smith’s murder, Strang forged a letter purportedly from Smith, appointing Strang leader of the 25,000 Latter-Day Saints. While Brigham Young consolidated power and moved most of the believers to Utah, Strang moved his more modest followers to Wisconsin. There he was drawn to a tree by the White River, where he exhumed three brass plates engraved in a script, supposedly written by ‘Rajah Manchou of Vorito’, the leader of a prior civilization. I’ll bet you won’t be surprised that Strang was able to translate these plates using a pair of ‘seer stones’ on loan from an angel. [And his followers believed him!] Another of Strang’s ‘revelations’ told him to relocate his followers to Beaver Island, where he sought to create his own independent kingdom. His coronation occurred in 1850, and he was referred to as ‘King Strang’ thereafter. He was even elected to serve in the Michigan legislature.
Ironically, Strang sought to separate himself from Brigham Young by adopting an anti-polygamy position; and then secretly married four wives in addition to his legal wife, Mary.
How did the settlement support itself? They counterfeited money, and stole from their non-Mormon neighbors with guns, swords, and a fast schooner (and maybe involving a murder or two). This included horses, fishing boats, and more. Eventually, President Fillmore dispatched an iron-hulled Navy steamer to the island to arrest Strang, but Strang eluded capture.
Was this just a confidence game to Strang or did he become totally delusional? Who knows? Harvey points that it was an anxious time in American history and the population was looking for charismatic leaders and something exciting to believe in. Of note, this was the age of P.T. Barnum, mesmerism, and the Illuminati.
I learned a lot about a chapter in Michigan history I knew very little about—pretty crazy stuff.
In 1843, Strang was baptized by Joseph Smith in the Mormon capital of Nauvoo, Illinois. After Smith’s murder, Strang forged a letter purportedly from Smith, appointing Strang leader of the 25,000 Latter-Day Saints. While Brigham Young consolidated power and moved most of the believers to Utah, Strang moved his more modest followers to Wisconsin. There he was drawn to a tree by the White River, where he exhumed three brass plates engraved in a script, supposedly written by ‘Rajah Manchou of Vorito’, the leader of a prior civilization. I’ll bet you won’t be surprised that Strang was able to translate these plates using a pair of ‘seer stones’ on loan from an angel. [And his followers believed him!] Another of Strang’s ‘revelations’ told him to relocate his followers to Beaver Island, where he sought to create his own independent kingdom. His coronation occurred in 1850, and he was referred to as ‘King Strang’ thereafter. He was even elected to serve in the Michigan legislature.
Ironically, Strang sought to separate himself from Brigham Young by adopting an anti-polygamy position; and then secretly married four wives in addition to his legal wife, Mary.
How did the settlement support itself? They counterfeited money, and stole from their non-Mormon neighbors with guns, swords, and a fast schooner (and maybe involving a murder or two). This included horses, fishing boats, and more. Eventually, President Fillmore dispatched an iron-hulled Navy steamer to the island to arrest Strang, but Strang eluded capture.
Was this just a confidence game to Strang or did he become totally delusional? Who knows? Harvey points that it was an anxious time in American history and the population was looking for charismatic leaders and something exciting to believe in. Of note, this was the age of P.T. Barnum, mesmerism, and the Illuminati.
I learned a lot about a chapter in Michigan history I knew very little about—pretty crazy stuff.
March 23, 2020
When we lived along Lake Michigan people would ask me if I knew about the King of Beaver Island. I had never heard of him. All I knew was that quilter Gwen Marston lived on Beaver Island. I had seen photos of her home and studio and the classes she held there. A lovely place.
Then along comes Miles Harvey's The King of Confidence: A Tale of Utopian Dreamers, Frontier Schemers, True Believers, False Prophets, and the Murder of an American Monarch, finally my chance to learn about this Michigan king.
I'll cut to the chase: Harvey's book is rollicking, page-turning, riotous good fun...and a sobering reminder of the American penchant to be taken in by quacks, con-men, and self-aggrandizing wannabes.
As a boy, J. J. Strang dreamed of the big achievements awaiting him--like marrying the girl Victoria who was destined to become queen of England. He wanted to be king.
Over his life, Strang reinvented himself, from teacher to lawyer, from atheist to the heir to Mormon founder Joseph Smith, from self-proclaimed king to pirate to legislator. And from husband to one wife to husband to a harem.
Harvey could have given us a somber, and perhaps tedious, exploration of Strang's place in American history, with insights into our current political craziness as well as Strang's antebellum social, economic, and political craziness.
OK; he did cover these themes. But with pizazz and ironic fun to create an entertaining narrative that makes one want to keep reading.
Chapters have lively titles and chapter quotations. Such as,"In which one charlatan is run out of town, only to be replaced by an even greater scoundrel", the following quote being a discussion between the Duke and the King from Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Yes, this is a book that Michiganders must read, but also those interested in how Americans gravitate to extremes during troubled times. Harvey's insights into human nature and society transcends time and place.
I was given a free ebook by the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.
Then along comes Miles Harvey's The King of Confidence: A Tale of Utopian Dreamers, Frontier Schemers, True Believers, False Prophets, and the Murder of an American Monarch, finally my chance to learn about this Michigan king.
I'll cut to the chase: Harvey's book is rollicking, page-turning, riotous good fun...and a sobering reminder of the American penchant to be taken in by quacks, con-men, and self-aggrandizing wannabes.
As a boy, J. J. Strang dreamed of the big achievements awaiting him--like marrying the girl Victoria who was destined to become queen of England. He wanted to be king.
Over his life, Strang reinvented himself, from teacher to lawyer, from atheist to the heir to Mormon founder Joseph Smith, from self-proclaimed king to pirate to legislator. And from husband to one wife to husband to a harem.
Harvey could have given us a somber, and perhaps tedious, exploration of Strang's place in American history, with insights into our current political craziness as well as Strang's antebellum social, economic, and political craziness.
OK; he did cover these themes. But with pizazz and ironic fun to create an entertaining narrative that makes one want to keep reading.
Chapters have lively titles and chapter quotations. Such as,"In which one charlatan is run out of town, only to be replaced by an even greater scoundrel", the following quote being a discussion between the Duke and the King from Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Yes, this is a book that Michiganders must read, but also those interested in how Americans gravitate to extremes during troubled times. Harvey's insights into human nature and society transcends time and place.
I was given a free ebook by the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.
September 29, 2021
This book wasn't to bad. I shall give a full review at a later date.
June 23, 2024
Miles Harvey’s The King of Confidence is the fascinating story of the 19th-century Mormon leader James Jesse Strang, whom I had never heard of before. When Mormon founder Joseph Smith was killed in 1844, Strang proclaimed himself Smith’s successor, offering evidence that was almost certainly fraudulent. But the provenance of Strang’s authority didn’t matter to numerous Mormons who followed him as he broke away from the main Mormon community in Nauvoo, Illinois, led by Brigham Young. Strang set up his own community, first in Voree, Wisconsin, and then on Beaver Island near the northern end of Lake Michigan.
Strang bolstered his authority with claims of visions and revelations and even, in a nod to Joseph Smith’s original source of authority, the discovery of a new set of buried brass plates written in an ancient language that only he could decipher. Once on Beaver Island, he anointed himself “King of Earth and Heaven.” In 1851, he published The Book of the Law of the Lord, which he claimed he had translated from the so-called Plates of Laban, which had disappeared from the Ark of the Covenant and somehow wound up on Beaver Island. The document gave Strang absolute power and authority over his kingdom. It was, says Harvey, “Strang’s magnum opus of self-invention.” For the first time, polygamy, which Strang had opposed, was sanctioned, and Strang himself ended up with five wives.
Strang aspired to hold power and influence beyond his kingdom on Beaver Island. A lawyer, he managed to get himself elected (with a unanimous vote from the citizens of Beaver Island) to the Michigan legislature and became quite influential there. He unsuccessfully jockeyed to become governor of the Utah territory and even saw himself as the eventual president of the United States. He became an ardent abolitionist. Meanwhile, he and some of his followers were illegally appropriating land on Beaver Island, terrorizing non-Mormons in the vicinity, and engaging in piracy and thievery.
One of the strengths of the book, in my opinion, is how Harvey anchors Strang’s story in the context of antebellum America. For example, Strang was but one of many prophets and preachers to emerge in the 1830s and ‘40s—many of whom originated, as Strang did, in the “Burned Over District” of religious fervor in western New York. Likewise, numerous utopian and separatist communities arose in the United States during this period. Harvey makes frequent reference to Strang’s contemporary P. T. Barnum, the legendary showman who perfected the arts of publicity and self-promotion that Strang also practiced. And Harvey quotes contemporary writers and thinkers like Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Henry David Thoreau to provide additional perspective on the antebellum society in which Strang thrived.
How to evaluate Strang’s life? Harvey says, “Anyone attempting to make sense of Strang’s life must invariably confront the same dilemma. Was he a holy man or demagogue? Did he break the laws in order to save the faith or did he fabricate the faith in order to break the laws? Did God speak through him, or was the whole thing—the letter of appointment from Joseph Smith, the Rajah Manchou plates, the Book of the Law of the Lord, the visions, the covenants, everything that he wrote and said and did—one giant and elaborate hoax?”
However one resolves that dilemma, it is hard to argue with Harvey’s assessment that Strang was, in Herman Melville’s term, “an original.” And in Confidence Man, Harvey has written a terrific book about that original.
Strang bolstered his authority with claims of visions and revelations and even, in a nod to Joseph Smith’s original source of authority, the discovery of a new set of buried brass plates written in an ancient language that only he could decipher. Once on Beaver Island, he anointed himself “King of Earth and Heaven.” In 1851, he published The Book of the Law of the Lord, which he claimed he had translated from the so-called Plates of Laban, which had disappeared from the Ark of the Covenant and somehow wound up on Beaver Island. The document gave Strang absolute power and authority over his kingdom. It was, says Harvey, “Strang’s magnum opus of self-invention.” For the first time, polygamy, which Strang had opposed, was sanctioned, and Strang himself ended up with five wives.
Strang aspired to hold power and influence beyond his kingdom on Beaver Island. A lawyer, he managed to get himself elected (with a unanimous vote from the citizens of Beaver Island) to the Michigan legislature and became quite influential there. He unsuccessfully jockeyed to become governor of the Utah territory and even saw himself as the eventual president of the United States. He became an ardent abolitionist. Meanwhile, he and some of his followers were illegally appropriating land on Beaver Island, terrorizing non-Mormons in the vicinity, and engaging in piracy and thievery.
One of the strengths of the book, in my opinion, is how Harvey anchors Strang’s story in the context of antebellum America. For example, Strang was but one of many prophets and preachers to emerge in the 1830s and ‘40s—many of whom originated, as Strang did, in the “Burned Over District” of religious fervor in western New York. Likewise, numerous utopian and separatist communities arose in the United States during this period. Harvey makes frequent reference to Strang’s contemporary P. T. Barnum, the legendary showman who perfected the arts of publicity and self-promotion that Strang also practiced. And Harvey quotes contemporary writers and thinkers like Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Henry David Thoreau to provide additional perspective on the antebellum society in which Strang thrived.
How to evaluate Strang’s life? Harvey says, “Anyone attempting to make sense of Strang’s life must invariably confront the same dilemma. Was he a holy man or demagogue? Did he break the laws in order to save the faith or did he fabricate the faith in order to break the laws? Did God speak through him, or was the whole thing—the letter of appointment from Joseph Smith, the Rajah Manchou plates, the Book of the Law of the Lord, the visions, the covenants, everything that he wrote and said and did—one giant and elaborate hoax?”
However one resolves that dilemma, it is hard to argue with Harvey’s assessment that Strang was, in Herman Melville’s term, “an original.” And in Confidence Man, Harvey has written a terrific book about that original.
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July 29, 2020http://www.bookwormblues.net/2020/07/...
The instant I saw this book, I knew I had to read it.
You see, my family is LDS, and while I was raised in the church, I left it when I was younger, and made the transition official with my records removed when I was in my early twenties. I remember a lot of this stuff from my youth, from time at church, but it was all told with a very “churchy” tone. Since then, I’ve enjoyed not being LDS so much, I have had no desire to do any further reading on a lot of church history. I got my fill of it as a kid, thank you very much.
That being said, I really enjoy reading about historical figures I’ve never heard of before. The weirder they are, the more I like it. Confidence men, scammers and the like, really turn my crank. I always think the ways they con people are just… fascinating (and rather amazing in the, “Holy crap, someone actually bought into that?!” way.).
I will say, before going into this book very far, I do think this book could potentially offend LDS people, not because it outright poo-poos their religion, but there is discussion of church lore, which is, shall we say, handled with a bit of a guffaw. While I think the guffaw was put in all the right places, I wouldn’t, for example, advise my mother to read this book. I think sometimes the way things are handled, especially regarding Joseph Smith and his golden plates, for example, are explained with a sort of off the cuff disbelief and blatant skepticism that would absolutely offend her (though I found it to be extremely refreshing). So, be aware of that before diving in.
Anyway, this book is about one James Jesse Strang. Strang grew up in the mid 1800’s, starting out in a county in New York which, at the time, was known for its fervent religiosity. This is where a whole lot of religious movements and con men got their start. This, as it happens, was also the county Joseph Smith started out in. Strang, however, was not religious. A devout atheist, he often waxed on and on in his journals and notebooks about how he was absolutely not religious. Strang went on to become a lawyer, married a woman he really didn’t like much, and started selling off property that didn’t exist to people. He also really thought Napoleon was fantastic and he really wanted to emulate this guy.
So how did he get from backwoods New York atheist, to the heir of the early LDS church? Well, it’s a bit of a wild ride.
Now, before I continue on, I should tell you that one thing I loved about this book, which you may or may not enjoy, was all the context. Again, I’m going to put a little personal spin on this. There were a whole lot of things I never knew about Joseph Smith and the early Mormons and, specifically, this part of New York. I remember I went to the Sacred Grove as a kid, and watched my dad go crazy trying to get all the mosquitos off of him as we wandered around. What I didn’t know until I read this book, was just how prevalent and prolific various religious movements were in this specific county in New York, to the point where this county got a nickname due to all the religious fervor: Burned-Over District.
I’d always thought this part of New York was a place where a few other small churches started out but not many, and eventually everyone realized that the Mormon church and Joseph Smith was THE DUDE TO FOLLOW and just went after him. I had no idea that there was such a fervor of religiosity in this region that Smith really was just one guy plying his trade amongst hundreds of them. That this region was so notorious for its religious devotion, it was nationally known for it. That there were so many men and women starting churches, you could pretty much throw a rock and hit someone with a direct line to God.
So, for me, a whole lot of this book contextualized things that I’d understood a little… differently… from my church days.
There was a lot about the time in US history that made confidence men and religious upstarts so prevalent. For example, banks were basically handing out IOU’s to people, which may or may not actually be worth anything in the end. Thus, there were huge amounts of insecurity. The country was in a bit of a roiling state due to things happening in such a way that was setting the stage for the Civil War. There was a whole lot of uncertainty, and people wanted certainty. What better way to give people what they want than to find God? For one reason or another, Burned-Over District in New York became a hotbed of this stuff. And this is where both Joseph Smith and James Jesse Strang really got started.
Strang ended up getting into some trouble in New York and he took off in the night (literally) with his wife and family. He wasn’t heard of again for five years, when he turned up in Wisconsin. Out in Wisconsin, he ends up practicing law again, and selling off property again. One thing leads to another, and he ends up in Nauvoo, Illinois, meeting Joseph Smith and then converting to the church. This is weird, because he’s an atheist and he’s very proud of that fact, so no one is really sure why he converted. Many years later, someone said he converted because he was hoping that he could entice all the Mormons to move up to Wisconsin, which would drive the property values through the roof. He could unload a bunch of property and make a boatload of money. While that’s just a theory, in my mind, it’s the theory that makes the most sense.
Anyway, the rest of the book goes on from there. It tells the story of how he started a breakoff Mormon sect after Joseph Smith died, how he “found” his own brass plates and an angel “loaned” him the devices he needed to translate said plates (just like Joseph Smith). How he became the King of Earth and Heaven, Beaver Island, the saga of lording over these people and his struggle to keep them loyal to him, and his spectacular fall.
It’s all very… entertaining.
What I liked most about this book, however, wasn’t just the story of Strang, it was the historical backdrop that serves as fantastic context for so much that happens. It’s really not just a story of one guy with a chip on his shoulder, but the larger, changing, evolving United States as a whole and all the stresses and tensions within it that allowed certain movements to rise up and take root in the way they did. There were not a few times I found myself refocusing, contextualizing some of the things I learned in church all those years ago, and a whole lot of times I was just interested because what I was learning was interesting.
So while this is a biography of one man, you kind of get double duty here. It’s a biography, and a nonfiction historical book sort of smashed into one, and I found all the parts of it to be just fantastic. Part of this is likely because of my own personal history. This book tapped into something in my own story that doesn’t get tapped into often. Part of it is also because it’s just interesting. I haven’t read much about confidence men in the mid-1800s, and while I know that was a time when scammers really had fun, what this book does is show some of the reasons why people like Strang came to be, and the social elements that played into their stories and allowed them to be what they became.
And, wow, was he a colorful person.
All in all, I absolutely loved this book. I devoured it. It was well written, with a lot of detail and depth that I honestly didn’t expect. While I do not think this book is for everybody, I do think that it is worth reading. I wish I could find more nonfiction books like this.
The instant I saw this book, I knew I had to read it.
You see, my family is LDS, and while I was raised in the church, I left it when I was younger, and made the transition official with my records removed when I was in my early twenties. I remember a lot of this stuff from my youth, from time at church, but it was all told with a very “churchy” tone. Since then, I’ve enjoyed not being LDS so much, I have had no desire to do any further reading on a lot of church history. I got my fill of it as a kid, thank you very much.
That being said, I really enjoy reading about historical figures I’ve never heard of before. The weirder they are, the more I like it. Confidence men, scammers and the like, really turn my crank. I always think the ways they con people are just… fascinating (and rather amazing in the, “Holy crap, someone actually bought into that?!” way.).
I will say, before going into this book very far, I do think this book could potentially offend LDS people, not because it outright poo-poos their religion, but there is discussion of church lore, which is, shall we say, handled with a bit of a guffaw. While I think the guffaw was put in all the right places, I wouldn’t, for example, advise my mother to read this book. I think sometimes the way things are handled, especially regarding Joseph Smith and his golden plates, for example, are explained with a sort of off the cuff disbelief and blatant skepticism that would absolutely offend her (though I found it to be extremely refreshing). So, be aware of that before diving in.
Anyway, this book is about one James Jesse Strang. Strang grew up in the mid 1800’s, starting out in a county in New York which, at the time, was known for its fervent religiosity. This is where a whole lot of religious movements and con men got their start. This, as it happens, was also the county Joseph Smith started out in. Strang, however, was not religious. A devout atheist, he often waxed on and on in his journals and notebooks about how he was absolutely not religious. Strang went on to become a lawyer, married a woman he really didn’t like much, and started selling off property that didn’t exist to people. He also really thought Napoleon was fantastic and he really wanted to emulate this guy.
So how did he get from backwoods New York atheist, to the heir of the early LDS church? Well, it’s a bit of a wild ride.
Now, before I continue on, I should tell you that one thing I loved about this book, which you may or may not enjoy, was all the context. Again, I’m going to put a little personal spin on this. There were a whole lot of things I never knew about Joseph Smith and the early Mormons and, specifically, this part of New York. I remember I went to the Sacred Grove as a kid, and watched my dad go crazy trying to get all the mosquitos off of him as we wandered around. What I didn’t know until I read this book, was just how prevalent and prolific various religious movements were in this specific county in New York, to the point where this county got a nickname due to all the religious fervor: Burned-Over District.
I’d always thought this part of New York was a place where a few other small churches started out but not many, and eventually everyone realized that the Mormon church and Joseph Smith was THE DUDE TO FOLLOW and just went after him. I had no idea that there was such a fervor of religiosity in this region that Smith really was just one guy plying his trade amongst hundreds of them. That this region was so notorious for its religious devotion, it was nationally known for it. That there were so many men and women starting churches, you could pretty much throw a rock and hit someone with a direct line to God.
So, for me, a whole lot of this book contextualized things that I’d understood a little… differently… from my church days.
There was a lot about the time in US history that made confidence men and religious upstarts so prevalent. For example, banks were basically handing out IOU’s to people, which may or may not actually be worth anything in the end. Thus, there were huge amounts of insecurity. The country was in a bit of a roiling state due to things happening in such a way that was setting the stage for the Civil War. There was a whole lot of uncertainty, and people wanted certainty. What better way to give people what they want than to find God? For one reason or another, Burned-Over District in New York became a hotbed of this stuff. And this is where both Joseph Smith and James Jesse Strang really got started.
Strang ended up getting into some trouble in New York and he took off in the night (literally) with his wife and family. He wasn’t heard of again for five years, when he turned up in Wisconsin. Out in Wisconsin, he ends up practicing law again, and selling off property again. One thing leads to another, and he ends up in Nauvoo, Illinois, meeting Joseph Smith and then converting to the church. This is weird, because he’s an atheist and he’s very proud of that fact, so no one is really sure why he converted. Many years later, someone said he converted because he was hoping that he could entice all the Mormons to move up to Wisconsin, which would drive the property values through the roof. He could unload a bunch of property and make a boatload of money. While that’s just a theory, in my mind, it’s the theory that makes the most sense.
Anyway, the rest of the book goes on from there. It tells the story of how he started a breakoff Mormon sect after Joseph Smith died, how he “found” his own brass plates and an angel “loaned” him the devices he needed to translate said plates (just like Joseph Smith). How he became the King of Earth and Heaven, Beaver Island, the saga of lording over these people and his struggle to keep them loyal to him, and his spectacular fall.
It’s all very… entertaining.
What I liked most about this book, however, wasn’t just the story of Strang, it was the historical backdrop that serves as fantastic context for so much that happens. It’s really not just a story of one guy with a chip on his shoulder, but the larger, changing, evolving United States as a whole and all the stresses and tensions within it that allowed certain movements to rise up and take root in the way they did. There were not a few times I found myself refocusing, contextualizing some of the things I learned in church all those years ago, and a whole lot of times I was just interested because what I was learning was interesting.
So while this is a biography of one man, you kind of get double duty here. It’s a biography, and a nonfiction historical book sort of smashed into one, and I found all the parts of it to be just fantastic. Part of this is likely because of my own personal history. This book tapped into something in my own story that doesn’t get tapped into often. Part of it is also because it’s just interesting. I haven’t read much about confidence men in the mid-1800s, and while I know that was a time when scammers really had fun, what this book does is show some of the reasons why people like Strang came to be, and the social elements that played into their stories and allowed them to be what they became.
And, wow, was he a colorful person.
All in all, I absolutely loved this book. I devoured it. It was well written, with a lot of detail and depth that I honestly didn’t expect. While I do not think this book is for everybody, I do think that it is worth reading. I wish I could find more nonfiction books like this.
December 4, 2022
This was a compelling read for me. . .and a little itchy. My dna has been deeply involved in that great search for the one true faith and many of my ancestors were murdered and chased from pillar to post. And, have done their own contribution to the chasing and unrighteous dominion in the pursuit of freedom to worship. I grew up knowing of Strang and studied his wicked path as a youth. Those reads were not balanced, nor were they trustworthy as their agendas were apparent.
Still, what author doesn't have a message, an agenda, a darker, deeper reveal to make? As long is this is factored in, this book does as balanced a job as can be expected to explain a problem of 178 years ago. Joseph Smith's murder on that June day in 1844 created ripples that didn't just affect his faithful followers. . .it affected the entire country. People had to decide that day why they cared, if they cared, and who they were following - and everyone had an opinion. Especially the many who had given up everything they had, were, and planned for in order to act on that choice. Many had years, blood, relationships, the futures of their families invested in every word from his mouth and shared experience with his life and belief in his connection with deity. From that day an explosion began that lasted for years, and James Strang was part of that violence and rode hellbent for leather on his own road from there. . . .taking whoever would go as long as he was the one they obeyed.
A meaningful read for me.
Still, what author doesn't have a message, an agenda, a darker, deeper reveal to make? As long is this is factored in, this book does as balanced a job as can be expected to explain a problem of 178 years ago. Joseph Smith's murder on that June day in 1844 created ripples that didn't just affect his faithful followers. . .it affected the entire country. People had to decide that day why they cared, if they cared, and who they were following - and everyone had an opinion. Especially the many who had given up everything they had, were, and planned for in order to act on that choice. Many had years, blood, relationships, the futures of their families invested in every word from his mouth and shared experience with his life and belief in his connection with deity. From that day an explosion began that lasted for years, and James Strang was part of that violence and rode hellbent for leather on his own road from there. . . .taking whoever would go as long as he was the one they obeyed.
A meaningful read for me.
February 24, 2022
Interesting and readable, Harvey tries to orchestrate a range of context for the events central to the story. This character was not unknown to me, but the early history of the Mormons is truly convoluted. Strang (the purported "King") travelled for a time with his "nephew" as his secretary; this person was not his nephew, and was in fact a young women with whom he entered into a form of marriage (oddly, the word "bigamy" is not used in this book).
I did learn that over 400 women fought in the civil war dressed (and viewed) as men.
I did learn that George Eliot reviewed Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass.
I did learn that I can only handle the word "antebellum" a certain number of times, and this word appeared way too often, and often quite unnecessarily, in this book. It became a joke, an annoyance, a distraction. Overuse is misuse.
The major themes in this book, how Americans love hucksters, how "confidence" is the name of the game, the fondness for delusional partisanship and fanaticism — continue to be all too relevant, and frankly terrifying.
I did learn that over 400 women fought in the civil war dressed (and viewed) as men.
I did learn that George Eliot reviewed Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass.
I did learn that I can only handle the word "antebellum" a certain number of times, and this word appeared way too often, and often quite unnecessarily, in this book. It became a joke, an annoyance, a distraction. Overuse is misuse.
The major themes in this book, how Americans love hucksters, how "confidence" is the name of the game, the fondness for delusional partisanship and fanaticism — continue to be all too relevant, and frankly terrifying.
November 30, 2020
The sensational account of one of the Great Pretenders, who claimed to be the successor to Joseph Smith, attempted to supplant Brigham Young as Governor of Utah, and self-proclaimed King of Earth and Heaven. James Jesse Strang, a man of countless unfounded claims, founded two settlements of his followers, one in Voree (Burlington), Wisconsin and another on Beaver Island in Lake Michigan. This "go-ahead man" was a prophet and a pirate, a propagandist and a politician. A failed lawyer, postmaster, newspaper editor, and real estate speculator, Strang reinvented himself as a religious leader after growing up an atheist in the "Burned Over District" of New York.
Comparisons to Joseph Smith are natural - and deliberately fabricated by Strang - which made this a natural reading companion to Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling. Strang was a man of his time, which included Mark Twain's character King in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (who may have been based on Strang's former accomplice George J. Adams), Herman Melville's The Confidence-Man (first draft completed at the time of Strang's notorious death), and Charles Dickens's depiction of the "smart man" in American Notes and Pictures from Italy. Strang took his cues from P.T. Barnum, using his newspaper and postmaster experience to turn bad publicity into celebrity.
Strang was put on trial for the criminal enterprises of his followers, then used those same followers to stuff the ballot box and elect him as state representative for their mostly uninhabited district. Efforts to prevent him from taking his seat in the legislature failed, and, after he took office, he was lauded for his capacity as a debater.
A real estate speculator from New York, who values loyalty above all else, proclaims himself a prophet for the financial and political gain derived from his devout followers. He promotes criminal activity in his inner circle and voter fraud to ensure his reelection. He proves adept at using new mass media communication technology to spread his propaganda and attack anyone who dares speak out against their King. A man of his own time as well as a precursor of a man of our time!
Video promotion: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7284461/vi...
Comparisons to Joseph Smith are natural - and deliberately fabricated by Strang - which made this a natural reading companion to Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling. Strang was a man of his time, which included Mark Twain's character King in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (who may have been based on Strang's former accomplice George J. Adams), Herman Melville's The Confidence-Man (first draft completed at the time of Strang's notorious death), and Charles Dickens's depiction of the "smart man" in American Notes and Pictures from Italy. Strang took his cues from P.T. Barnum, using his newspaper and postmaster experience to turn bad publicity into celebrity.
Strang was put on trial for the criminal enterprises of his followers, then used those same followers to stuff the ballot box and elect him as state representative for their mostly uninhabited district. Efforts to prevent him from taking his seat in the legislature failed, and, after he took office, he was lauded for his capacity as a debater.
A real estate speculator from New York, who values loyalty above all else, proclaims himself a prophet for the financial and political gain derived from his devout followers. He promotes criminal activity in his inner circle and voter fraud to ensure his reelection. He proves adept at using new mass media communication technology to spread his propaganda and attack anyone who dares speak out against their King. A man of his own time as well as a precursor of a man of our time!
Video promotion: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7284461/vi...
December 4, 2020
Fantastic book about James Strang, born in New York along the Erie Canal, where many different religions sprang up. An atheist at one point he tried to claim to be the successor of the Mormon Church along with Brigham Young and others. A known “confidence” man who coined people out of money, he disappeared one day and showed up in Michigan with a few followers and a wife, Mary. He settled with his Mormon followers where he made himself King. Later because he was literate and held a law degree, he was able control voting in the area and elected mayor and judge. He and his followers declared that non Mormons had no rights to property, money and housing. Many were chased off, others were persecuted with legal complaints and harassment. Finally the president decided he needed to do something about Beaver Island and James Strang. Really well written and told in an entertaining form, every chapter opens with a title similar to a chapter in Tom Jones. And a moving quote fitting with the story. Loved it.
October 27, 2020
I was already familiar with this story, having spent time on Beaver Island, Michigan in my teens. After the death of Mormon founder Joseph Smith, James Jesse Strang led a breakaway sect of Mormons to settlements in Wisconsin and an island off Charlevoix, Michigan in Lake Michigan. Brigham Young led the main group to eventually settle in Salt Lake City.
Harvey portrays Strang as a con man (with plenty of evidence) who declares himself king of Beaver Island, encourages raiding parties along the Michigan coast, takes on multiple wives and punishes any who disagree with him.
Harvey adds a lot of padding to the book, some more relevant than others. He also engages in a bit too much speculation for my tastes - trying to describe inner thoughts that we can't possibly know without diaries or letters. It is still an interesting book about a real character. After all, how many people have declared themselves king within the borders of the United States?
Harvey portrays Strang as a con man (with plenty of evidence) who declares himself king of Beaver Island, encourages raiding parties along the Michigan coast, takes on multiple wives and punishes any who disagree with him.
Harvey adds a lot of padding to the book, some more relevant than others. He also engages in a bit too much speculation for my tastes - trying to describe inner thoughts that we can't possibly know without diaries or letters. It is still an interesting book about a real character. After all, how many people have declared themselves king within the borders of the United States?
August 6, 2020
Really fun read that talked about events that seem out of this world. An enjoyable historical book.
July 28, 2021
Read most of this on the island where it takes place 👍👍
December 1, 2020
I wanted to like this book so, so much. These types of stories are usually my jam. But I just couldn’t. The first chapter or two was great, but the rest felt like it still needed editing - the author tries to create parallels between the book’s events and other historical events from the antebellum era but a lot of those connections are awkward. The whole thing is too long. It also felt clunky and frustrating to read. I kept having to put it down and come back to it because it never hit that storytelling flow that I was expecting.
The best parts were about James Strang’s wife. It seemed like she absolutely hated every stupid thing he did and was rightfully pissed at her dumb husband the whole time. I’d happily read a book about her experience dealing with him.
Side note: Trump’s presidency may have sucked some of the joy out of reading this book. Every time I was supposed to feel astounded at something Strang tried to pull, I thought, “Yep, I bet he did that.” It’s hard to read a book about a charlatan leader right now, and Trump has done virtually everything this guy tried to pull.
The best parts were about James Strang’s wife. It seemed like she absolutely hated every stupid thing he did and was rightfully pissed at her dumb husband the whole time. I’d happily read a book about her experience dealing with him.
Side note: Trump’s presidency may have sucked some of the joy out of reading this book. Every time I was supposed to feel astounded at something Strang tried to pull, I thought, “Yep, I bet he did that.” It’s hard to read a book about a charlatan leader right now, and Trump has done virtually everything this guy tried to pull.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 31, 2022
I'm a sucker for stories of 19th-century charlatans, especially those adjacent to my Mormon upbringing. James Strang insisted that Joseph Smith had appointed him as his successor after Joseph's death, then thought that wasn't far enough. He called himself the divine king of earth and heaven, and set up his commune on an island in Lake Michigan near the Upper Peninsula. The book brings in a lot of the contemporary happenings and Con[fidence] Men that were forging visions of an America still in its infancy.
December 28, 2020
The United States in the mid-19th century was wild, filled with social upheaval, political corruption, and people migrating west in search of a better life. (Except for the migrating westward part, this reminds me of the U.S. today.) Another parallel between the antebellum period and the present-day U.S. is the fascinating emergence of leaders whose goal it is to con others into believing them, following them, possibly even worshipping them. We have a (not yet indicted) charismatic criminal in the White House, and in the mid-1800s there was James Strang. (Truly, as I read about Strang, with his devoted followers, I kept thinking about the rally last weekend…) Miles Harvey tells the little-known and extremely interesting story of James Strang in The King of Confidence.
I loved reading this book…in one way, it gave me hope that we will indeed get past the current situation. On the other hand, it reminded me how incredibly gullible and willing to accept wild beliefs that people are, leading me to wallow in my fear that we are completely screwed. James Strang came along at a time when people were desperate for someone to lead them. Although he was an avowed atheist, when Joseph Smith, the leader of the new Latter Day Saints religion known as Mormonism was murdered, Strang jumped on the opportunity to fill the vacuum left by Smith’s death. He somewhat miraculously presented a letter naming him as the successor to the prophet and persuaded hundreds of Smith’s followers to move to an island in Lake Michigan where he would lead them in (to?) glory.
Seriously, people believed this? How much did they need something to hang onto that they would fall for such a blatant con? Oh wait, election of 2016…but I digress. Strang would eventually control as much as a quarter of the state of Michigan, living a polygamous life, and perpetrating a boatload of fraudulent activities before being assassinated. What a wild ride!
Reminiscent of wonderful narrative nonfiction such as Erik Larson’s Devil in the White City, The King of Confidence is a biography of Strang, a history of LDS activity Immediately after Joseph Smith died, and a wonderful presentation of U.S. society in the years leading up to the Civil War all at once. Thanks to Little, Brown & Co. and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I loved reading this book…in one way, it gave me hope that we will indeed get past the current situation. On the other hand, it reminded me how incredibly gullible and willing to accept wild beliefs that people are, leading me to wallow in my fear that we are completely screwed. James Strang came along at a time when people were desperate for someone to lead them. Although he was an avowed atheist, when Joseph Smith, the leader of the new Latter Day Saints religion known as Mormonism was murdered, Strang jumped on the opportunity to fill the vacuum left by Smith’s death. He somewhat miraculously presented a letter naming him as the successor to the prophet and persuaded hundreds of Smith’s followers to move to an island in Lake Michigan where he would lead them in (to?) glory.
Seriously, people believed this? How much did they need something to hang onto that they would fall for such a blatant con? Oh wait, election of 2016…but I digress. Strang would eventually control as much as a quarter of the state of Michigan, living a polygamous life, and perpetrating a boatload of fraudulent activities before being assassinated. What a wild ride!
Reminiscent of wonderful narrative nonfiction such as Erik Larson’s Devil in the White City, The King of Confidence is a biography of Strang, a history of LDS activity Immediately after Joseph Smith died, and a wonderful presentation of U.S. society in the years leading up to the Civil War all at once. Thanks to Little, Brown & Co. and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
September 3, 2020
Super interesting story of a Mormon offshoot in the very early days of church history. Also a good reminder of how a confident white salesman can pretty much get away with anything. Especially in the 1800s.
June 30, 2020
Do not bother with this one.
August 18, 2020
Only got about halfway through this before moving on. Harvey's style never really matched the material for me. His approach feels a bit too arch and condescending. Not my kind of non-fiction, despite seeming right up my alley.
September 21, 2020
I struggled with this one. While I found the topic interesting, it dragged in parts. Definitely wasn’t nearly as good as “Devil in the White City.”
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book, which I voluntarily chose to review.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book, which I voluntarily chose to review.
February 26, 2025
This surprised me a lot!
I didn't even know it had anything to do with Mormonism (a topic I am infinitely interested in) going in. Regardless, I found The King of Confidence to be extremely well researched, quite funny at times, and just interesting.
I particularly loved the way Harvey was able to make the America of that time period feel so small; squashing together names and events that are, usually, scattered in history books. I felt like the dots connected so well, and it made me want to read everything referenced from the period.
I didn't even know it had anything to do with Mormonism (a topic I am infinitely interested in) going in. Regardless, I found The King of Confidence to be extremely well researched, quite funny at times, and just interesting.
I particularly loved the way Harvey was able to make the America of that time period feel so small; squashing together names and events that are, usually, scattered in history books. I felt like the dots connected so well, and it made me want to read everything referenced from the period.
June 28, 2021
(Note:I received an advanced reader copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley)
James Strang was a man who was able to swoop into a fledgling Latter Day Saints movement while it was suffering a crisis, draw away a schismatic slice, and use them to build his own little theocratic island kingdom And somehow, that is only a part of his almost unbelievable but very, very real story.
Long relegated to the margins of history, Strang’s curious place in America’s past has been brought back into the spotlight by Miles Harvey’s excellent and thickly detailed new biography of this opportunistic prophet-king. It’s not only one of the most genuinely entertaining historical reads that I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying in a while, but this book is frankly a very welcome reminder that absurd con men trying to sell themselves as savior-leaders are by no means solely a present-day phenomenon.
James Strang was a man who was able to swoop into a fledgling Latter Day Saints movement while it was suffering a crisis, draw away a schismatic slice, and use them to build his own little theocratic island kingdom And somehow, that is only a part of his almost unbelievable but very, very real story.
Long relegated to the margins of history, Strang’s curious place in America’s past has been brought back into the spotlight by Miles Harvey’s excellent and thickly detailed new biography of this opportunistic prophet-king. It’s not only one of the most genuinely entertaining historical reads that I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying in a while, but this book is frankly a very welcome reminder that absurd con men trying to sell themselves as savior-leaders are by no means solely a present-day phenomenon.
August 2, 2020
I bravely went the distance on this “magazine article”, each step of the way was piled with numerous cuecumbersome “bookish” references. I hate when writers do that. Merciless and needlessly name drop other books and writers. Perhaps the strangeness of strang is just plain out of my league? The annoying female narrator was a poor choice as well. Friends should recommend better books!
August 3, 2020
Decent enough read about a James Strang, a Confidence Man who became king in 19th century America.
King of his own little Mormon cult that is. Of course it didn't last and ended badly. The story itself is alright but it never really caught me. Entertaining enough but not one you need to read.
King of his own little Mormon cult that is. Of course it didn't last and ended badly. The story itself is alright but it never really caught me. Entertaining enough but not one you need to read.
April 18, 2021
Listened to on chapter a day. Never heard about any of this weird WI history before.
November 16, 2020
As a Michigan native who once spent a family week on Beaver Island as a kid, I couldn't pass this one up. I knew only barely that once upon a time there had been a weird guy who proclaimed himself king of the island, and now Miles Harvey has given us the full, sensational, lurid, melodramatic scoop. The mid-19th century antebellum period was an inflammatory time in American history, with all manner of cults, sects, spiritualists, con men, zealots, and flim-flam... up to and including the Mormons (see Jon Krakauer's eye-opening Under the Banner of God for some background useful to reading this one). James Strang hailed from a region in western New York state that was such a hotbed of utopians and kooks it was known as the "Burned-Over District." John Brown was from there too.
James was an odd kid. As a teenager, he decided his destiny was to be a great leader, and the reasonable way to achieve that was for him to marry a certain teen-aged girl of royal family in England named Victoria. Right, that ought to do it. He was intense, driven, smart, and became a Mormon and a lawyer who could outtalk most of his adversaries. He married young, and his wife couldn't stand him. Once in the Mormon ranks, he wrangled and connived and manipulated his way up the echelons. But it was never enough for James. New York, Wisconsin, up into Michigan, where there was this large island in the lake that was just sitting there, not being used by anybody (except, um, some native Americans, hardy fishermen, and farmers). It belonged to the federal government and who cares about that, so how perfect would it be for a kingdom that was only waiting for a King! His wife didn't last too long there after he went off and he picked up a young man he introduced as his nephew and set to work as a dedicated, clever secretary. Only he wasn't a nephew... *she* was an ambitious young woman he'd married on a trip to New York, and passed as his nephew assistant for over a year. Even though he spouted opposition to "plural marriage," he seemed to like "spiritual wives" just fine and produced several very corporeal offspring among four wives. He robbed, stole, lied and bullied his way over a few hundred sad souls, stuffing ballot boxes, changing political parties, evading arrests and convictions, to become a state legislator in Lansing. (Let's be fair: he was an ardent abolitionist.) His minions staged piratical raids on passing ships, farms, and towns along Lake Michigan's coastline. He finally crossed a line for one local on the island who had refused to become a Mormon, and whose wife declined to wear the pantaloons Strang had decreed was required for all women on the island. The population splintered, coalesced, and it all came to a bloody end as the officer of a military ship in the harbor hummed a tune and looked the other way.
Harvey tells this dramatic tale a bit in the style of the time, with chapter headings like "In which various people whip their neighbors, bludgeon their colleagues, hack their enemies to death, and bring the United States to the verge of civil war while James Strang insists there's absolutely nothing to worry about." He lives up to the billing, with all manner of scoundrels and drinking and fighting and politics. Strang was so very strange, driven to the point of megalomania, that I wish Harvey had allowed himself a little armchair psychologizing of his subject: the grandiosity, the utter amorality of his behavior while professing deep religious belief (never mind that he made a lot of it up). Was he just crazy? Was he a sociopath or a psychopath? Did he *really* hear angels, or was all of it a scam? Harvey doesn't choose to speculate. Nearly 75 pages of notes and bibliography; and about a full page devoted to listing by name the librarians who helped him (which endears him to me forever). Loads of fun to read, and once again, a timely reminder of the damage that demagogues do.
James was an odd kid. As a teenager, he decided his destiny was to be a great leader, and the reasonable way to achieve that was for him to marry a certain teen-aged girl of royal family in England named Victoria. Right, that ought to do it. He was intense, driven, smart, and became a Mormon and a lawyer who could outtalk most of his adversaries. He married young, and his wife couldn't stand him. Once in the Mormon ranks, he wrangled and connived and manipulated his way up the echelons. But it was never enough for James. New York, Wisconsin, up into Michigan, where there was this large island in the lake that was just sitting there, not being used by anybody (except, um, some native Americans, hardy fishermen, and farmers). It belonged to the federal government and who cares about that, so how perfect would it be for a kingdom that was only waiting for a King! His wife didn't last too long there after he went off and he picked up a young man he introduced as his nephew and set to work as a dedicated, clever secretary. Only he wasn't a nephew... *she* was an ambitious young woman he'd married on a trip to New York, and passed as his nephew assistant for over a year. Even though he spouted opposition to "plural marriage," he seemed to like "spiritual wives" just fine and produced several very corporeal offspring among four wives. He robbed, stole, lied and bullied his way over a few hundred sad souls, stuffing ballot boxes, changing political parties, evading arrests and convictions, to become a state legislator in Lansing. (Let's be fair: he was an ardent abolitionist.) His minions staged piratical raids on passing ships, farms, and towns along Lake Michigan's coastline. He finally crossed a line for one local on the island who had refused to become a Mormon, and whose wife declined to wear the pantaloons Strang had decreed was required for all women on the island. The population splintered, coalesced, and it all came to a bloody end as the officer of a military ship in the harbor hummed a tune and looked the other way.
Harvey tells this dramatic tale a bit in the style of the time, with chapter headings like "In which various people whip their neighbors, bludgeon their colleagues, hack their enemies to death, and bring the United States to the verge of civil war while James Strang insists there's absolutely nothing to worry about." He lives up to the billing, with all manner of scoundrels and drinking and fighting and politics. Strang was so very strange, driven to the point of megalomania, that I wish Harvey had allowed himself a little armchair psychologizing of his subject: the grandiosity, the utter amorality of his behavior while professing deep religious belief (never mind that he made a lot of it up). Was he just crazy? Was he a sociopath or a psychopath? Did he *really* hear angels, or was all of it a scam? Harvey doesn't choose to speculate. Nearly 75 pages of notes and bibliography; and about a full page devoted to listing by name the librarians who helped him (which endears him to me forever). Loads of fun to read, and once again, a timely reminder of the damage that demagogues do.
December 9, 2023
On the plus side, this book is well-researched and the chapters are short. On the down side, Harvey repeats himself quite a bit and employs more than a little sensationalism. The tale is maddening, because we are still living it at the end of 2023: People totally taken in by shysters, conmen, and blatant liars. (But enough about our government.) This book is also a scathing indictment on Mormonism and uncovers outrageous and heinous acts perpetrated by those of that "religion", particularly in Illinois and Wisconsin. The biggest question (and one not addressed in the book) is why so many people are so willing to join a cult and turn a blind eye to being manipulated and swindled. What is missing in the lives of so many that decades apart, the characters and events in this book sound like they could have been lifted from this morning's news? (Alas, that is a different and probably much longer tome.) Harvey's book does a decent job at what it sets out to do. I had never heard of James Strang before, but he is certainly a colorful figure.
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