Mormonism

Scholars of Mormonism have been well served by encyclopedias and dictionaries in the past few decades. The Encyclopedia of Mormonism (Macmillan, 1992), at four volumes, is the largest, while Davis Bitton and Thomas G. Alexander's single-volume Historical Dictionary of Mormonism (Scarecrow, 2008. 3d ed.) covers similar territory with much shorter entries. Between these two comes this volume from ABC-CLIO. With over 50 contributors from a variety of backgrounds, it is divided into four sections: eras, events, people, and issues. Reeve (history, Univ. of Utah) and independent researcher and historian Parshall also include a chronology and a selected bibliography. The problem, however, is that many entries only tangentially deal with controversial issues, often presenting the Church's point of view to the near exclusion of alternative explanations or interpretations. Some issues—such as those dealing with women's relationship to the Church, for example—would benefit from the representation of several differing viewpoints. Overall, however, this issue is mitigated by the reliance on contributors from a broad array of institutions, and the article on the controversial Smoot Hearings of 1904 is an excellent example of dealing with a topic more neutrally. BOTTOM LINE Recommended for larger public and academic libraries serving patrons and students needing basic historical background on Mormonism.—David Azzolina, Univ. of Pennsylvania Libs., Philadelphia