A history of what became a romantic       legend about a martyred prophet, a lost city, and religious persecution,       this volume tells the story of Nauvoo, the early Mormon Church, and the       temporal life of Joseph Smith. Nauvoo (1839-46) was a critical period in       Mormon history. The climax of Smith's career and the start of Brigham Young's,       it was here that Utah really had it's beginnings and that the pattern of       Mormon society in the West was laid.        "...the quality and quantity of research is commendable... an excellent         contribution to American mid-western history and to Mormoniana in general."                 -- Journal of American History