Joseph Smith

Rough Stone Rolling

By: Richard Lyman Bushman

Narrated by: James Anderson Foster

Founder of the largest indigenous Christian church in American history, Joseph Smith published the 584-page Book of Mormon when he was 23 and went on to organize a church, found cities, and attract thousands of followers before his violent death at age 38. Richard Bushman, an esteemed cultural historian and a practicing Mormon, moves beyond the popular stereotype of Smith as a colorful fraud to explore his personality, his relationships with others, and how he received revelations.

An arresting narrative of the birth of the Mormon Church, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling also brilliantly evaluates the prophet's bold contributions to Christian theology and his cultural place in the modern world.

©2005 Richard Lyman Bushman (P)2018 Tantor

Most informative book about Joseph Smith

Richard Bushman's biography of Joseph Smith is one of the finest works of History I've ever read. He is well documented and does a great job telling the life story of a intersting, complex, and difficult figure in American History.

Balanced history

Four stars instead of five because I have read (or listened to) better books, but this book was very well done. I believe he presents a well-researched and thoughtful history that is balanced and fair.

objective

Balanced and honest. loved it. much context was added to help me understand stories I had heard before

incredible and thorough. Bushman gives the facts.

Bushman takes the facts and lays them out before the reader allowing them to make their own call and connect some dots on their own. she does not skip over the unpleasant portions of the history but gives as much of an objective view as I've read.

Was confused by a lot of the other reviews...

So, if you're not a Mormon (I'm not) and you listen to this book, you might be confused by the reviews here complaining about the poor pronunciation (I was). Get this - it turns out that apparently Mormons have *their own personal way* to pronounce Hebrew words! Who knew?

So, the narrator pronounces Hebrew words the way they're actually pronounced - which I guess just confuses the Mormons who've never heard the words said correctly before? 🤷🏻‍♂️

Any way - it's an interesting book.

Great full understanding

This provided the untold truth of the man known as Joseph Smith. His history, successes and failures help modern followers develop their own truths and understandings of his experiences and later Revelations.

Eye opening with great supporting references.

Greatly assisted me with my testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and the fact that Joseph Smith is nothing more and nothing less than a man working through his own salvation and sojourn on planet Earth.

A Book Worth the Time and Effort

An excellent recounting of the life of a man who impacted world history for good well beyond the duration of his life.
Bushman does an excellent job of painting all sides of the life and character of Joseph Smith. It is impossible to walk away from a reading of this book and not understand both the virtues and the imperfections of the man who claimed to be a prophet sent from God. And in the end the reader is left to ponder on their own and determine for themselves what they choose to believe about Joseph regardless of what the evidence and truth of the matter may be.
Very well crafted. Very well read. A book with the time and effort.

Great history work

The information is terrific -- especially the amazing research. The one aspect that really annoyed me was the continual mispronunciation of religious terminology and even well-known LDS leaders.

Thorough biography.

I was curious about Smith's life. This answered my questions. I wanted a book that was chariyable enough to Mormons while also being critical enough. This book did the trick. I find religion fascinating and studying the Mormons can help a person get a better understanding of how religion works generally. This book is worth reading/listening to.