In the last several years a wealth of information has been published on Joseph Smith's practice of polygamy. For some who were already well aware of this aspect of early Mormon history, the availability of new research and discovered documents has been a wellspring of further insight and knowledge into this topic. For others who are learning of Joseph's marriages to other women for the first time, these books and online publications can be both an information overload and a challenge to one's faith. In this short volume, Brian C. Hales (author of the 3-volume Joseph Smith's Polygamy: History and Theology) and Laura H. Hales wade through the murky waters of history to help bring some clarity to this episode of Mormonism's past. As Joseph Smith's participation in plural marriage involved more than just the Prophet and his first wife Emma, this volume also includes short biographical sketches of the 35 other women who were sealed to Joseph but whose stories of faith, struggle, and courage have been largely forgotten and ignored over time. While we may never fully understand the details and reasons surrounding this practice, Brian and Laura Hales provide readers with an accessible, forthright, and faithful look into this challenging topic so that we can at least come toward a better understanding. Praise for Joseph Smith's Polygamy: Toward a Better Understanding "Few matters of LDS history have proven to be as faith-sensitive as Joseph Smith's plural marriages. While a number of efforts have been made in recent years to shed light on this challenging phenomenon, nothing has brought greater clarity, enlightenment, and, particularly for believing Saints, spiritual reassurance, than has the work of researcher Brian Hales. He and his wife Laura have now rendered a monumental service to Mormons and interested observers by bringing clarity and better understanding to this topic. I for one am grateful for the context, perspective, and both straightforward and faithful answers provided for so many of the questions surrounding Nauvoo polygamy. It is a book that will be read and discussed for years to come." - Robert L. Millet, Professor Emeritus of Religious Education, Brigham Young University

Takes a fresh look at the chronology and development of Mormon polygamy, including the difficult conundrums of the Fannie Alger relationship, polyandry, the "angel with a sword" accounts, Emma Smith's poignant response, the possibility of Joseph Smith offspring by his plural wives, and the newly available Andrew Jenson papers containing not only the often-quoted statements by surviving plural wives but also Jenson's own private research, conducted in the late nineteenth century. Volume 1 contains chapters 1-22 of the total of 33 chapters comprising Joseph Smith's Polygamy: History.

Volume 2 is a continued compilation of in-depth articles written by Richard and Pamela Price for Vision, entitled Joseph Smith Fought Polygamy, to prove that Joseph Smith, Jr. was innocent of polygamy. These articles, with their forty-five years of careful research and extensive documentation, bring startling new evidence that, instead of being a polygamist, Joseph Smith actually fought against the dogma.

Beginning in the 1830s, at least thirty-three women married Joseph Smith. These were passionate relationships which had some longevity, except in instances in which Smith's first wife, Emma, learned of the secret union and quashed it. Emma remained a steadfast opponent of polygamy throughout her life.

The second in a three-volume anthology in which top scholars examine the entire range and history of Mormon polygamy.

CES Letter is one Latter-Day Saint's honest quest to get official answers from the LDS Church (Mormon) on its troubling origins, history, and practices. Jeremy Runnells was offered an opportunity to discuss his own doubts with a director of the Church Educational System (CES) and was assured that his doubts could be resolved. After reading Jeremy's letter, the director promised him a response.No response ever came.

Mormon Mormon polygamy began in Nauvoo, Illinois, a river town located at a bend in the Mississippi about fifty miles upstream from Mark Twain's Hannibal, Missouri. After church founder Joseph Smith married some thirty-eight women, he introduced this "celestial" form of marriage to his innermost circle of followers. By early 1846, nearly 200 men had adopted the polygamous lifestyle, with an average of nearly four women per man--717 wives in all. After leaving Nauvoo, these husbands would eventually marry another 417 women. In Utah they were the polygamy pioneers who provided a model for thousands of others who entered into plural marriages in the nineteenth century. Their story is colorful, wrapped in images of people in the next life piloting celestial worlds. Plural marriage was not initiated all at once, nor was it introduced though a smooth progression of events but rather in fits and starts, though defenses and denials, hubris and mea culpas. The story, as told here, emphasizes the human drama, interspersed with underlying historiographical issues of uncovering what has hidden--of explaining behavior that was once allowed and then denied as circumstances changed.