''David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism'' is the first book to draw upon the

David O. McKay David Oman McKay (September 8, 1873 – January 18, 1970) was an American religious leader and educator who served as the ninth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1951 until his death in 1970. Ordain ...

Papers at the

J. Willard Marriott Library The J. Willard Marriott Library is the main academic library of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. The university library has had multiple homes since the first University of Utah librarian was appointed in 1850. The current building ...

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

, in addition to some two hundred interviews conducted by the authors,

Gregory Prince Gregory Antone Prince (born 1948) is an American pathology researcher, businessman, author, social critic, and historian of the Latter Day Saint movement. Biography Prince was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. After graduating as val ...

and

William Robert Wright William Robert Wright (May 20, 1935 – January 13, 2012) was an American attorney, political candidate, and author. Early life and education Wright was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Ralph Bassett Wright and Afton Middlemiss Wright. He grad ...

. The work was first published on March 9, 2005, through the University of Utah Press and was met with mixed reviews. Based largely on an extensive body of records gathered and maintained by McKay's longtime secretary, Clare Middlemiss, the book focuses on the years of McKay's presidency, during which

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

faced the challenges of worldwide growth in an age of

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

, the American Civil Rights Movement, and

ecumenism Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

Reception

The '' Journal of Mormon History'' praised the book as a "fine example of the bookmaker's art, the oversize volume is beautifully designed and brilliantly executed" and commented that although they had initially held concerns about the work being based predominantly on the Middlemiss diaries, they grew more confident on the material's accuracy, the further they read in the book. The journal '' Church History'' also gave a favorable review, stating that it should be "required reading in American Religion". The ''

Deseret News The ''Deseret News'' () is the oldest continuously operating publication in the American west. Its multi-platform products feature journalism and commentary across the fields of politics, culture, family life, faith, sports, and entertainment. Th ...

'' was more critical in their review, writing that there was "a huge and interesting body of material here that will be fascinating to both general readers and historians" but that it "suffers from the use of huge, undigested quotations from McKay and a number of church leaders and associates. A trained historian would have pared down the material, done some paraphrasing and devoted precious time to analyzing the evidence."

Awards

*''Evans Handcart Award'' (2005, won) *''Best Biography Award'' from the Mormon History Association (2005, won) *''Best Utah History Book Award'' from the Utah State Historical Society (2005, won)Copy of a press release from the University of Utah is found here:

Publication information

* Prince, Gregory and Wright, Wm. Robert.
David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism
'. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, UT, 2005. .

Notes

External links

Book's information
from the University of Utah Press
Book review
by Julie M. Smith at Times & Seasons
Discussion on the book
with Greg Prince at Times & Seasons 2005 non-fiction books 2005 in Christianity Books published by university presses History books about the Latter Day Saint movement LDS non-fiction Books about presidents of the church (LDS Church) {{LDS-book-stub

Reception

Awards

Publication information

Notes

Further reading

External links