With over 100 million copies in print; the Book of Mormon has spawned a vast religious movement; but it remains little discussed outside Mormon circles. Now Terry L. Givens offers a full-length treatment of this influential work; illuminating the varied meanings and tempestuous impact of this uniquely American scripture. Givens examines the text's role as a divine testament of the Last Days and as a sacred sign of Joseph Smith's status as a modern-day prophet. He assesses its claim to be a history of the pre-Columbian peopling of the Western Hemisphere; and later explores how the Book has been defined as a cultural product--the imaginative ravings of a rustic religion-maker. Givens further investigates its status as a new American Bible or Fifth Gospel; one that displaces; supports; or; in some views; perverts the canonical Word of God. Finally; Givens highlights the Book's role as the engine behind what may become the next world religion. The most wide-ranging study on the subject outside Mormon presses; By the Hand of Mormon will fascinate anyone curious about a religious people who; despite their numbers; remain strangers in our midst.
#466277 in Books 2002-12-12 2002-12-12Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 6.20 x .80 x 9.20l; 1.00 #File Name: 0195156323320 pages
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Plausible revisionist interpretation of BrownBy HHThis book provides a credible introduction to a nuanced study not only of Brown but its limitations; particularly its inability to crack deeper structures of racial inequality in the United States. Patterson argues that these structures; rather than the product of irrational racial prejudice in the South; were in fact integral components of America's larger social and economic formation. Patterson does much to shed light on this formation and to show that; as much as Jim Crow might have angered liberals like Chief Justice Warren; it did not repel them enough to call for fundamental changes in American society.Just as Patterson deftly captures Warren's liberalism; so too does he convey white America's conflicted stance towards race. Eager to appear reconstructed; America proved reluctant to pay the price necessary for real reform. Eager to make an example of the South; Northern and Western whites proved remarkably conservative; quickly seeking refuge in the suburbs when their racial liberalism started to boomerang back on them. Relying on an impressive swath of secondary sources; Patterson weaves together parallel historiographies not only of the Supreme Court; but also the civil rights movement; massive resistance; white flight; suburban sprawl; and Republican politics. This sets the stage for an impressive argument; one that focuses not only on struggles to implement Brown in the South; but across the country. Indeed; Patterson's final hundred pages provide a compelling narrative of myriad; subtle rollbacks in civil rights gains during the 1970s; 80s; and 90s at the national level. Not only does Patterson capture the incessant subterfuges of southern segregationists; in other words; ones that lasted well into the 1980s and beyond; but he deftly expands his lens to show how these same segregationists found fervent allies in northern cities like Chicago and in liberal states like California.Patterson's expansive; national view points the way to new avenues of historical inquiry; and in particular to broader; more expansive understandings of Brown. Not simply a notable Supreme Court case; the ruling constituted something of a battlefield flare; a political event that illuminated a much larger struggle for economic; political; and even cultural resources. This struggle; undergirded by the hegemonic dominance of racial ideology in America; manifested itself in a tension between black activism and white resistance; between the rhetoric of tolerance and the reality of America's racialized social hierarchy.Patterson has produced a well-written; judicious analysis of the Supreme Court's difficulties in orchestrating racial equality; one of America's most elusive; and perhaps for that very reason; grandest expectations.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. 1954.. and it took how long?By M D MazinsPatterson shows the long road to integrated schools and it's still not truly implemented as "white flight" keeps schools and neighborhoods mostly segregated. . showing the limitations of legislationthis book outlines the cases that helped shape Brown V. Board of Ed. not only showing the CONSTANT struggle to get this legislation passed but also the absolutely appalling stall tactics that went on for more than a decade to implement the follow through and state's and governor's abilities to stall and stall.everyone was worried about their children; everyone wanted the best for their kids; with that there is racism; evil; and violence..so many people wanting "what's best for their children" and willing to kill.. harm; maim to get what they want.. the fear and racism that this book shows becomes hard to fathom.. until you look at today's schools and realize .. many things have not changed at all.. while ..not "illegal" to integrate schools.. the poor and urban schools are still mostly non-white..and the struggle continues..2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. A terrific and thorough review of Brown et al.By Shawn S. SullivanJames T. Patterson's Brown v. Board of Education is an exceedingly well researched historical work on the pivotal cases faced on all judicial levels in the 1950s; 60s; 70s and 80s regarding segregation in our nation's schools. Professor Patterson masterfully writes on not just the legal implications of the landmark decision(s) in Brown but also in regard to their social impact. He puts into a greater racial and societal context not only the meaning of Brown but also the strategies of Thurgood Marshall and his associates in deciding to bring before the Court when many other challenges to Jim Crow could have been argued with much legal and moral merit.Patterson tirelessly; but interestingly; cites case after case and puts each before the reader in the context of a broader societal consequence. He dispassionately argues the merit and challenges of desegregation as society was changing at a precipitous rate with "white flight" from our urban centers to affluence and the ability to "avoid" integration with the availability of private schools obviously not covered by Brown or the 14th Amendment. A theme seemingly in most; if not all; of Patterson's writings on the American 20th Century is the effect of expectations of the populous. Indeed his wonderful contribution to the Oxford Series of United States History is entitled "Grand Expectations". It is interesting how he weaves that theme into this much more specific narrative. "This is another way of reiterating an essential truth about Brown: so many larger postwar forces- rising expectations and restlessness among blacks; slowly changing white attitudes about racial segregation; the Cold War; which left Jim Crow America vulnerable to the charge of hypocrisy when it claimed to lead the Free World - were impelling the nation townard liberalization of its racial practices.This is a great book and is part of the Oxford Series of Pivotal Moments in American History. To state the utter obvious; the reader should be aware that this "moment" is still very much ongoing and; as such; this book is much broader; out of intellectual necessity; than one; or really two; Supreme Court decisions.
