Tribes of Israel in America

By: Ethan Smith

Narrated by: Rodney Louis Tompkins

View of the Hebrews; or the Tribes of Israel in America is an 1823 book by Ethan Smith, a Congregationalist minister, who argued that Native Americans were descended from the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. The lost 10 tribes were believed to have disappeared after being taken captive by the Assyrians in the eighth century BCE. Smith's speculation was inspired by the apocryphal book II Esdras 13:41, which claims that the ten tribes settled in a far country, "where never mankind dwelt." Far from purporting to be holy writ, View of the Hebrews attempts to solve a puzzle of history. In itself, it’s an interesting listen which offers fascinating insight into the language and perspectives of the US in the 1820s.

Public Domain (P)2019 Museum Audiobooks

interesting book, poor production

The book is of interest mainly to discussions of Mormonism. The production values are not good for the audio version however. The narrator makes multiple errors in pronunciations of some basic words, including pronouncing the same word in different ways throughout the book (sometimes Gog with a short o and sometimes with a long o). Some phrases are repeated as if the editor didn't realize where they stopped recording and just started recording again, without editing. It makes for a ponderous and underwhelming production.

Repetitive, poor narration, yet interesting!

SUMMARY: Native Americans share striking connections with what we'd expect in one of the Lost Tribes of Israel.