*Winner of the Mormon History Association’s Best Book Award*

An extraordinary story of faith and violence in nineteenth-century America, based on previously confidential documents from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Compared to the Puritans, Mormons have rarely gotten their due, treated as fringe cultists at best or marginalized as polygamists unworthy of serious examination at worst. In Kingdom of Nauvoo, the historian Benjamin E. Park excavates the brief life of a lost Mormon city, and in the process demonstrates that the Mormons are, in fact, essential to understanding American history writ large.

Drawing on newly available sources from the LDS Church—sources that had been kept unseen in Church archives for 150 years—Park recreates one of the most dramatic episodes of the 19th century frontier. Founded in Western Illinois in 1839 by the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith and his followers, Nauvoo initially served as a haven from mob attacks the Mormons had endured in neighboring Missouri, where, in one incident, seventeen men, women, and children were massacred, and where the governor declared that all Mormons should be exterminated. In the relative safety of Nauvoo, situated on a hill and protected on three sides by the Mississippi River, the industrious Mormons quickly built a religious empire; at its peak, the city surpassed Chicago in population, with more than 12,000 inhabitants. The Mormons founded their own army, with Smith as its general; established their own courts; and went so far as to write their own constitution, in which they declared that there could be no separation of church and state, and that the world was to be ruled by Mormon priests.

This experiment in religious utopia, however, began to unravel when gentiles in the countryside around Nauvoo heard rumors of a new Mormon marital practice. More than any previous work, Kingdom of Nauvoo pieces together the haphazard and surprising emergence of Mormon polygamy, and reveals that most Mormons were not participants themselves, though they too heard the rumors, which said that Joseph Smith and other married Church officials had been “sealed” to multiple women. Evidence of polygamy soon became undeniable, and non-Mormons reacted with horror, as did many Mormons—including Joseph Smith’s first wife, Emma Smith, a strong-willed woman who resisted the strictures of her deeply patriarchal community and attempted to save her Church, and family, even when it meant opposing her husband and prophet.

A raucous, violent, character-driven story, Kingdom of Nauvoo raises many of the central questions of American history, and even serves as a parable for the American present. How far does religious freedom extend? Can religious and other minority groups survive in a democracy where the majority dictates the law of the land? The Mormons of Nauvoo, who initially believed in the promise of American democracy, would become its strongest critics. Throughout his absorbing chronicle, Park shows the many ways in which the Mormons were representative of their era, and in doing so elevates nineteenth century Mormon history into the American mainstream.

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ADVANCE PRAISE

Kingdom of Nauvoo is a fascinating account of Joseph Smith’s attempt to build a ‘beautiful city’ for adherents to the new religion he founded: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Benjamin E. Park’s meticulously researched and gracefully written work provides a rich picture, not only of early Mormonism, but of the Jacksonian era in which the movement was born. –Annette Gordon-Reed, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Hemingses of Monticello

Mormon Nauvoo represents one of the most audacious and consequential religious experiments in US history. Using newly available sources from the men and women who staked their lives to build a new world and redeem the nation, Benjamin E. Park explores the singular interpretation of democracy and political power nourished briefly in the swampy soils of the Mississippi. This engaging study does not shy away from the controversies, the failures, and the deeply held faith that mark an astonishing moment in our past. –Laurie Maffly-Kipp, Archer Alexander Distinguished Professor, Washington University in St. Louis, and author of Setting Down the Sacred Past

Benjamin E. Park’s concise and engaging narrative of this Mormon ‘empire’ situates it firmly in the context of American political and social development, western expansion, and religious foment, in the process revealing the ways in which the early Church of Jesus Christ was shaped by the forces transforming the nation while also posing a challenge to America’s emerging democratic and capitalist order. –Amy S. Greenberg, George Winfree Professor of American History and Women’s Studies, Pennsylvania State University, and author of A Wicked War

Benjamin E. Park creates a startling picture of Nauvoo, the church, and the nation that all historians of the period will have to grapple with. –Richard Bushman, professor emeritus of history, Columbia University, and author of Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling

Benjamin E. Park’s Kingdom of Nauvoo tells the story of the city the Mormons built in Illinois before crossing the plains to Utah. Making sound use of newly available documents, Park’s story exemplifies the new Mormon history at its best. The author demonstrates the importance of women—including the prophet’s first wife, Emma Smith—in the shaping of Mormon history. –Daniel Walker Howe, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of What Hath God Wrought

REVIEWS

“Park’s book is a compelling history, built from contemporaneous accounts and from the previously unreleased minutes of the Council of Fifty, a governing body of sorts that Smith convened in Nauvoo, Illinois, when he was feeling besieged by his enemies and anticipating the Second Coming of Christ. Its minutes help clarify Smith’s sometimes contradictory political theology, and Park’s explication of them elevates “Kingdom of Nauvoo” from pure religious history to the realm of political theory. Park, an ambidextrous thinker, is equally sensitive to the danger the state can pose to religious minorities and to the danger that a religious institution can pose to the secular state. In his account, the early Mormons were a rowdy band of neo-Puritans who mounted a fundamental challenge to the democratic experiment. The tensions that they experienced—between the right to religious freedom and the limits of religious tolerance—still persist today.” –The New Yorker

“In ‘Kingdom of Nauvoo,’ historian Benjamin E. Park has a wild story to tell…What is special is how the Mormons transformed their persecutions in Ohio, Missouri and Illinois into spectacular worldly denominational success. Mr. Park suggests that the Mormon hegira to Utah was a secession that worked, decades before the bloody, failed attempt by the Confederate States of America. He’s right.” –Wall Street Journal

“Kingdom of Nauvoo is droolingly good. It grabbed me with its amazing prologue and it was non-stop fascination from there. In ‘Kingdom of Nauvoo,’ Park’s access to previously unavailable Council of Fifty documents and his engaging prose allowed him to craft a feast that will satisfy readers and historians for a long time to come.” –Association for Mormon Letters

“[Park] fashions a dense, exciting, and absorbing narrative of the most consequential and dramatic movement to dissent against and secede from the Constitutional republic before the Civil War.” –Booklist [starred review]

“A perceptive study of a religion that has become a dominant force in American society. This work will appeal to anyone interested in the often-contentious history of religion in America.” –Library Journal

“[An] enjoyable and fastidiously researched work…. Park, who was given extensive access to the Mormon Church’s archives, entertainingly establishes this little-known Mormon settlement’s proper place within the formative years of the Illinois and Missouri frontier.” –Publishers Weekly

“Vigorous study of the early Mormon settlement in Illinois, linking its founding to a rising anti-democratic tradition… A welcome contribution to American religious and political history.” –Kirkus Reviews

“In the end, the excesses of Smith and his followers were too much for the region, the state and the country to allow. Their politics and polygamy were too far out of the American mainstream, and Smith’s attitudes teach a lesson that resonates today. Park, who teaches history at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, relates the history in a clear, engaging way.” –St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“A riveting exploration of race, democracy, and sexual experimentation in an early Mormon -beautiful place.’” –Washington Independent Review of Books

“Deeply researched and written engrossingly…Park is at his best, and is often quite brilliant, in explicating the Mormons’ maneuverings in the context of county, state, and national politics…Another signal strength of the book is the way that Park frequently puts women front and center.” –Church History

“Kingdom of Nauvoo is a knock-your-socks-off sort of book, both in its substance and style. Park knows how to command the attention of his readers…Kingdom of Nauvoo is a page-turning and punchy account of the rise and fall of one of mid-nineteenth-century America’s most radical experiments. Because it so effortlessly weaves together Mormon history with larger questions about the nature of American democracy, it is ideally suited for the undergraduate classroom and deserves a wide general audience.” –Journal of Mormon History

“Kingdom of Nauvoo is a tour de force of scholarship. It is also a remarkably good yarn. For both the style of its prose as well as its determination to analyze Mormonism through the lens of broader historical contexts, Park’s work is deserving of the highest praise a reviewer can give: ‘I’ll be using this book in my classroom for years to come.'” –Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought

“An important read for those interested in American religious history, as well as American political and social history, western expansion, race, and gender in the antebellum period.” –Western Historical Quarterly

“Written with entertaining prose and in an accessible style,Park’sKingdom of Nauvoo is an excellent read that will challenge readers to consider not only the meaning of religious freedom, but also the nature of American democracy.” –American Nineteenth Century History

“Frankly, coming from an upbringing largely formed by those outdated religious historians who painted everything as either the pure goodness of a saintly people or as the unreasoning hatred of evil oppressors motivated solely by opposition to The Truth, history such as Ben writes is refreshing, stabilizing, and helps a believer like me have confidence in the knowability of our history. That is, for the first time I have an understanding of the legal difficulties of Joseph Smith and other leading Latter-day Saints – not just the whens and whats, but more importantly, the whys.” –Keepapitchinin

“It’s a first-rate work of Mormon history–the best book about this era I’ve read since Richard Bushman’s Rough Stone Rolling…Nerds like me who delight in such arguments will keep coming back to Park’s work as a foundational treatment, and we’ll be rewarded for doing so by Park’s delightful read.” –By Common Consent

“So let’s wind this up. Yes, you should get a copy and read it…The book is short enough you will actually read it. It is deep enough that you’ll learn something new, even if you are familiar with the story of Nauvoo.” –Wheat & Tares

“While I have yet to read a book of general Mormon history that I haven’t thought could benefit from more inclusion of women, Kingdom of Nauvoo is a good example of what I hope to see more of: using women’s own words when possible and including them as individuals driving action, not just responding to the actions of leading men.” –Exponent II

MEDIA COVERAGE

“Nauvoo Historian Hosts Reading and Book Signing,” WGEM (February 26, 2022).

“Benjamin Park Interview with James Dupey,” Arizona State University (February 2022).

“Kingdom of Nauvoo,” History Ago Go Podcast (November 21, 2021).

“The Atmosphere of Polygamy in Nauvoo,” Year of Polygamy Podcast (June 19, 2020).

“336: Kingdom of Nauvoo,” A Thoughtful Faith Podcast (June 8, 2020).

“Kingdom of Nauvoo–Benjamin E. Park,” This Week in Mormons Podcast (April 27, 2020).

“Episode 397: Benjamin E. Park,” The Cultural Hall Podcast (April 17, 2020).

“Kingdom of Nauvoo, with Ben Park,” Whiskey Rebellion Podcast (April 24, 2020).

“Kingdom of Nauvoo,” RadioWest (April 3, 2020).

“Kingdom of Nauvoo,” New Books in History Podcast (April 2, 2020).

Reddit AMA, Ask Historians (March 18, 2020).

“When America Failed to Protect Religious Minorities in the 1830s, the Mormons Hatched a Dramatic Plan,” BYU Radio’s Top of Mind (March 4, 2020).

“The Mormon Kingdom of Nauvoo with Benjamin E. Park,” The Age of Jackson Podcast (February 28, 2020).

“‘Mormon Land’: Theocracy, Secret Polygamy, Female Dissent, and Nauvoo’s Place in the Nation’s Past and a Religion’s Present,” Salt Lake Tribune Podcast (February 26, 2020).

“Polygamy, Politics, and Frontier Justice: Why Nauvoo Still Matters,” Religion News Service (February 24, 2020).

“Historian tackles politics, polygamy, and Joseph Smith in Kingdom of Nauvoo,” From the Desk (February 18, 2020).

ESSAYS

“American Democracy Nearly Failed in its Early Decades. It’s Important to Remember Why,” Religion & Politics (August 24, 2021).

“How an 1843 Revelation on Polygamy Poses a Serious Challenge to Modern Mormonism,” Religion Dispatches (May 14, 2020).

“The Nauvoo Crisis That Continues to Shape the Modern LDS Church,” Salt Lake Tribune (February 25, 2020).

LECTURES

Arizona State University, Public Lecture (February 2022).

Miller-Eccles Study Group (California), Dialogue Podcast (March 13, 2020).

CSPAN, King’s English Bookshop, Book Talk (March 4, 2020).

Brigham Young University, Public Lecture (February 28, 2020).

Benchmark Books, Book Talk (February 26, 2020).