Brigham Young: The Man and His Work by Preston Nibley

Preston Nibley's Brigham Young: The Man and His Work is a highly detailed account of the life of Brigham Young, the second president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormons. Because Mormons literally believe their Church presidents to be Prophets, to call this volume a hagiography, particularly as it is written by a Church member, would not be an understatement. Nibley's book takes the reader from Young's birth to his death, placing a particular emphasis on his religious life and the early development of the Mormon faith, particularly the trek west to Utah. Controversial aspects of Young's life, such as his participation in the practice of polygamy, are all but ignored in favor of a presentation of a man who apparently never faltered in his faith and whose purpose in life was to "build up, here on Earth 'the Church and Kingdom of God'"(541).

Nibley's purpose in writing this account is two-fold: "to record events as they transpired in this life, from day to day, month to month, and year to year" (np) and to promote a better understanding of Young's motives in regard to building up the Church during his lifetime (np). He succeeds with the former, while with the latter he does only slightly less so. Brigham Young: The Man and His Work is very detailed regarding time, not just in Young's life but of recording important Church history events as well. Nibley, for instance, is able to pinpoint Young's merely thinking about the possibility of building a Temple occurring on 25 December 1851 to the beginning of construction of the Salt Lake City Temple on 14 February 1853 (170, 196-197). While Young's motives are explained thoroughly for things such as moving the faith from Missouri to Utah, equally seminal events such as his conversion from Methodism to "Mormonism" often go unexplained. Although the date of his baptism, 14 April 1832 is known, what drew him toward his new faith is unclear (8).

In addition, the lack of information regarding the more controversial aspects of Young's life is jarring. Not only did Young practice polygamy, taking several dozen wives, he also contributed to the Church's troubled history with racism by stripping away the rights of African Americans to hold the priesthood, a privilege that was allowed under Church founder and first president Joseph Smith. One is left to wonder why these events and so many others were left out and not even an attempt an rationalizing Young's decisions was made.

These criticisms are not to say that the book was bad or even uninteresting. On the contrary, Nibley makes what could have been a dry Church history very personal, showing the relationships between Young and many of the key players in the early Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In addition, so much of early Church history is integral to the study of the American West. From their trek west, with stops at many places prominent on the Oregon Trail, to the founding of Utah, Mormon history is of huge importance to the history of the United States.

Nibley's account of the life of Brigham Young is unique in that it utilizes so many previously un-published primary documents, particularly those written by the Prophet himself. In the foreword, he credits the Church Historian's Office with access to such sources as Young's journals, letters, and sermons, which he frequently quotes. Often, the excerpts from Young's writings and other sources are so frequent and in such large content that they appear distracting. One might even get the impression that the book is simply a commentary on Young's writings rather than Young's writings being used to back-up Nibley's thesis. Presumably, all of the sources he used are Church sources, things such as the Deseret News, Millennial Star, and Journal of Discourses, which hurt the validity of the work, in that there seems to be no balance. One never truly gets to see if there is another, less perfect, side to Brigham Young. Other than the Church material he credits in the beginning, it is impossible, however, to see the full extent of sources that Nibley utilized for this book, as there is no bibliography. Although he quotes liberally from several sources, including letters to and from Young, there is no complete list of sources consulted, including other books. This omission does not make the wealth of sources consulted any less impressive -it simply hurts the organizational integrity of the book.

W.J. McNiff, writing for The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, views Nibley's repeated extracts from Young's diaries and papers as "tedious" (W.J. McNiff, "Brigham Young: The Man and His Work", The Mississippi Valley Historical Review 24, no. 1 [Jun 1937], 85). In addition, he finds fault with the way Nibley's work, compared to others, overdoes certain aspects of Young's life, such as the religious force that gave him the power to be a good leader, and virtually ignores more controversial aspects of it, such as the Mountain Meadows Massacre in which a Mormon militia killed over one hundred unarmed men, women, and children (85). These criticisms are certainly valid and McNiff's hagiographical account of the church president's life, virtually free of warts or negativity, does appear rather overdone at times. It is important, however, to remember that McNiff states that he is writing for a primarily Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints audience, so this is apparently the portrayal that they want (np). Ultimately, despite its flaws, Brigham Young: The Man and His Work is an engaging and interesting look at not just the life of the Prophet, but of the early history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well.

Source:
Nibley, Preston. Brigham Young: The Man and His Work. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 136.