Joseph Smith

The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet

By: John G. Turner

Narrated by: David Colacci

Joseph Smith Jr. (1805–1844) was one of the most successful and controversial religious leaders of nineteenth-century America, publishing the Book of Mormon and starting what would become the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He built temples, founded a city-state in Illinois, ran for president, and married more than thirty women. This self-made prophet thrilled his followers with his grand vision of peace and unity, but his increasingly grandiose plans tested and sometimes shattered their faith.

In this vivid biography, John G. Turner presents Smith as a consummate religious entrepreneur and innovator, a man both flawed and compelling. And he relentlessly advanced doctrines that tapped into anxieties about the nature and meaning of salvation, the validity of miracles, the timing of Christ's second coming, and the persistence of human relationships for eternity. His teachings prompted people to gather into communities, evoking fierce opposition from those who saw those communities as theocratic threats to republicanism.

With insights from newly accessible diaries, church records, and transcripts of sermons, Turner illuminates Smith's stunning trajectory, from his beginnings as an uneducated, impoverished farmhand to his ultimate fall at the hands of a murderous mob.

©2025 John G. Turner (P)2025 Tantor Media

Amazed at what I didn’t know about Joseph Smith

Turner’s approach is middle of the road, neither worshipping nor condemning but simply describing events in Smith’s life as best as can be documented after all these years. I was most amazed at the stealth/secrecy of the “plural wives” revelation - not a public statement of “this is how we are to conduct our lives” but rather a dirty little secret passed among the “elite” (or to the chosen ones targeted to be wives.) I was also surprised by just how much power this prophet accumulated and employed to maintain his own position and his people’s safety. Ironically, it was this that frightened the non-Saint population around the Mormons such that they employed mobs to bring his kingdom down (after it became apparent that Smith really was a law to himself and untouchable.)

Highly recommended book!

Excellently put together

This is a great companion for rough stone rolling. presents the events from a different perspective as an author who presents the events from a doubtful but not an antagonistic perspective. most of the book is presented without an agenda of protecting or tarnishing Joseph's life, but instead presenting things objectively with as many quotations as possible

Valuable information,

I disliked the reader’s inebriated voice tone and slow tempo. A valuable, credible , well-written biography to place next to Bushman’s.

One of the Best

I’ve read many biographies of Joseph Smith. This incorporates up to date research and tries to give a balanced perspective on a bold and enigmatic life.

Thorough and balanced

This book is well researched and fair to both the sources, its subject, and its readers—a rarity in scholarship on Joseph Smith, jr. Turner doesn’t ignore or skim past the darkness in Smith’s story, but rather sees him as a complete human with both strengths and flaws. Writing from a “never Mormon” perspective (as opposed to the overwhelming number of biographies and scholarship from current or former Mormons), Turner is able to see Smith more clearly and objectively than any other biography of him I’ve come across, and situates him squarely within 19th century America. The result is a book with truly wild subject matter, engagingly told and genuinely interesting to listen to even if the material is a bit uncomfortable at times.