by Robert V. Remini
Robert Remini is a respected authority on the Jacksonian Era, having written a well-known three-volume biography of Andrew Jackson himself. In approaching the life of the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, better known as the Mormon Church, Remini looks at Smith’s life as a product of the Jacksonian Era, Manifest Destiny, and the Second Great Awakening. This approach is simultaneously Remini’s greatest strength and weaknesses. On the one hand, this approach provides a more impartial view of Joseph Smith than is often exhibited in his biographies. On the other hand, Remini’s focus on the man through his time period often appears forced and disjointed. Remini makes several small but significant factual errors in the book, but these do not distract from the story. Joseph Smith is short (less than 200 pages), which also is a strength and a weakness. The book is very accessible to the casual reader, but it lacks some of the depth of treatment required to fully analyze the short life of a fascinating character in American history.
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