Pratt and others, the rationale offered for polygamy, with its emphasis on the eternal importance of complicated social networks, made this seemingly radical practice somewhat understandable. Through the theological treatises of Parley P. Within the nineteenth-century period, I thought that chapter 5, on the rise and fall of plural marriage in Utah, was an especially successful presentation. This is not intended as a criticism, for the author himself indicates that his book is largely a synthesis of the work of others, especially the first five chapters. The chapter notes themselves cite mainly primary sources, but these citations function more to illustrate the story than to carry it. The reader can thereby recognize that the author has relied mainly on secondary sources for the general story line and the major events and episodes of Mormon history. The sixteen-page bibliographic essay preceding the notes thus carries the main burden of explaining the most important sources used by the author. The chapters are actually rather lightly footnoted (averaging usually about one note per page of text), and all the notes appear in a single section at the back of the book. The author uses a strategy for his references (likely at the urging of his publisher) that makes the text read smoothly without interruptions from footnotes. He appropriately dedicates the book to Richard Bushman, who is not only his principal mentor but also was instrumental in connecting him with the publisher. The significance of this periodization will be readily apparent to many Mormon readers, and Bowman makes it clear enough to non-Mormon readers as well.
The chapters are arranged chronologically, with the first taking us to 1831, the second to 1839, the third to 1846, the fourth to 1877, the fifth to 1896, the sixth to 1945, the seventh to 1978, and the final chapter to 2011.
This book provides eight solid chapters, a brief introduction, and an even briefer conclusion, followed by four appendices, a bibliographic essay, endnotes, and an index.
He has appeared on various public media sites, electronic and otherwise, as a commentator about Mormons and Mormonism, including discussions of his new book. Having completed his doctorate in American religious history at Georgetown University in 2011, he has nevertheless already been very visible for some time at academic conferences and in periodical literature of both Mormon and American religious histories. Matthew Bowman is an up-and-coming young scholar of the generation now rising with the relatively new field of Mormon studies.
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