What would it have been like to know the Prophet Joseph Smith? Countless Church members have asked themselves that question. Though books written about the Prophet may shed light on his character and personality, nowhere do we find a clearer picture of him than in his own writings.This volume, now updated and revised, collects the personal writings of Joseph Smith - those written in his own hand or dictated to a scribe - and includes photographs of the original documents. His journal entries, letters and other documents reveal the true character of the Prophet: his humility, his unwavering loyalty to his family and friends, his love of life, his commitment to the Church, and his deep spiritualty and desire to do the will of the Savior, whose servant he was. Readers will share Joseph's joys and sorrows, understand the price he paid for truth, and realize that here, indeed, was a prophet of God.

Founder of the largest indigenous Christian church in American history, Joseph Smith published the 584-page Book of Mormon when he was twenty-three and went on to organize a church, found cities, and attract thousands of followers before his violent death at age thirty-eight. 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.

When award-winning documentary film writer Jane Barnes was working on the PBS Frontline/American Experience special series The Mormons, she was surprised to find herself passionately drawn to Joseph Smith. The product of an Episcopalian, “WASPy” family, she couldn’t remember ever having met a Mormon before her work on the series—much less having dallied with the idea of converting to a religion shrouded in controversy. But so it was: She was smitten with a man who claimed to have translated the word of God by peering into the dark of his hat. In this brilliantly written book, Barnes describes her experiences working on the PBS series as she moved from secular curiosity to the brink of conversion to Mormonism. It all began when she came across Joseph Smith's early writings. She was delighted to discover how funny and utterly unique he was—and how widely divergent his wild yet profound visions of God were from the Church of Latter-day Saints as we know it today. Her fascination deepened when, much to her surprise, she learned that her eighth cousin Anna Barnes converted to Mormonism in 1833. Through Anna, Barnes follows her family’s close involvement with Smith and the crises caused by his controversial practice of polygamy. Barnes’ unlikely path helps her gain a newfound respect for the innovative American spirit that lies at the heart of Mormonism—and for a religion that is, in many ways, still coming into its own. An intimate portrait of the man behind one of America’s fastest growing religions, Falling in Love with Joseph Smith offers a surprising and provocative window into the Mormon experience.

For the first time, the unexpurgated diaries of the Mormon church founder, Joseph Smith, are presented, including references to wine, women, the church, accounts of the First Vision, and early rituals.