Rudger Clawson (1857–1943) was the first Mormon convicted of being in violation of the Edmund–Tucker Act, which outlawed polygamy. Born into a polygamous family, Clawson married Florence Dinwoodey in August 1882, Lydia Spencer is March 1883, and eventually entered into a “post-Manifesto union” with Pearl Udall in 1904. Clawson, a prominent member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, served in the LDS Church as missionary, stake president, apostle, president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and counselor in the First Presidency. This book delves into Clawson’s time as a “cohab” in the Utah Territorial Penitentiary, as well as a unique look at this time in Utah’s history. These prison memoirs and letters reflect the pride felt by Mormon polygamists imprisoned “for conscience sake” and include Mormon doctrinal discussions, details of their prison life, personal accounts of prison escape attempts, and the sense of frustration felt by the men as a result of being separated from their families. In addition, these memoirs show Clawson’s talent for storytelling and include select love letters written by Clawson to his plural wife, Lydia.

Rudger Clawson (1857-1943) was the first Mormon convicted of being in violation of the Edmund-Tucker Act, which outlawed polygamy. Born into a polygamous family, Clawson married Florence Dinwoodey in August 1882, Lydia Spencer in March 1883, and eventually entered into a "post-Manifesto union" with Pearl Udall in 1904. Clawson, a prominent member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, served in the LDS Church as missionary, stake president, apostle, president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and counselor in the First Presidency. This book delves into Clawson's time as a "cohab" in the Utah Territorial Penitentiary, as well as a unique look at this time in Utah's history. These prison memoirs and letters reflect the pride felt by Mormon polygamists imprisoned "for conscience sake" and include Mormon doctrinal discussions, details of their prison life, personal accounts of prison escape attempts, and the sense of frustration felt by the men as a result of being separated from their families. In addition these memoirs show Clawson's talent for storytelling and include select love letters written by Clawson to his plural wife, Lydia.

My father had thirteen wives and more than fifty children . . . This is the haunting memoir of Anna LeBaron, daughter of the notorious polygamist and murderer Ervil LeBaron. Ervil’s criminal activity kept Anna and her siblings constantly on the run from the FBI. Often starving, the children lived in a perpetual state of fear—and despite their numbers, Anna always felt alone. Would she ever find a place she truly belonged? Would she ever be anything other than the polygamist’s daughter? Filled with murder, fear, and betrayal, The Polygamist’s Daughter is the harrowing, heart-wrenching story of a fatherless girl and her unwavering search for love, faith, and a place to call home.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the author of Into the Wild and Into Thin Air, this extraordinary work of investigative journalism takes readers inside America’s isolated Mormon Fundamentalist communities. • Now an acclaimed FX limited series streaming on HULU. “Fantastic.... Right up there with In Cold Blood and The Executioner’s Song.” —San Francisco Chronicle Defying both civil authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City, the renegade leaders of these Taliban-like theocracies are zealots who answer only to God; some 40,000 people still practice polygamy in these communities. At the core of Krakauer’s book are brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a commandment from God to kill a blameless woman and her baby girl. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this appalling double murder, Krakauer constructs a multi-layered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, polygamy, savage violence, and unyielding faith. Along the way he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America’s fastest growing religion, and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief.

An NPR journalist’s riveting exploration of religious fanaticism, terrorism, persecution, and confronting one’s own beliefs in a post 9/11 world. Soon after the World Trade Center towers fell on September 11 2001, it became clear that the United States would invade Afghanistan. Writer and This American Life producer Scott Carrier decided to go there, too. “In a series of remarkable essays, Carrier, raised among Mormons, noted similarities in the beliefs and practices of the Taliban and the Utah church, stressing the fundamentalist pledge of obedience to authority, and revelations and visions from God to a ‘Chosen people.’” Carrier needed to see and experience the Taliban for himself: who are these fanatics, these fundamentalists? And what do they want? (Publishers Weekly). Throughout these “engrossing stories of travel interspersed with historical vignettes and the author’s private struggles,” Carrier writes about his adventures—sometime harrowing, sometimes humorous, and always revealing—but also about the bigger problem. Having grown up among the resolute of the Salt Lake City church, he argues it will never work to attack the true believers head–on. The faithful thrive on persecution. Somehow, he thinks, we need to find a way—inside ourselves—to rise above fear and anger (Kirkus Reviews)