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Reviews
Saints, Volume 2: No Unhallowed Hand: 1846-1893 by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
taylorepperson's review
5.0
I loved learning about the early saints and the honesty of the church in showing/telling all that happened so publicly
spulsipher's review
4.0
Every book is crafted with a purpose. This one is intended to bolster support for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while also addressing some of the most challenging elements of its past. My personal opinion, as a practicing member who is already familiar with many of the events and teachings discussed, is that it pulled off that challenging task well.
lindseycrouch's review
5.0
I enjoyed slowly making my way through this. After each chapter I listened to the corresponding episode of the Saints podcast and the background info from the various church historians made for a really rich and interesting study of this period in church history.
bucketheadmary's review
4.0
I love how we call ourselves "saints" even though we are such an obviously flawed and imperfect people. The saintliness is found in the striving, in the persistent effort in the face of extreme challenges. The name is something to which we aspire and not something we can claim to yet fully embody. But we have hope and faith that someday we'll get there!
csd17's review
5.0
This was just like the first book, for me. As it started, possibly because it's been so long since I finished the first book, I was underwhelmed. Who were these people? And what made their story more worth telling than the other hundreds of average people who had stories to tell? And then, as it progressed, I found out that I should care-- very much.
No story is ordinary, but I think that the compilers did a good job of choosing people who were, in a way, outsiders. There's stories of separation, divorce, abandonment, disagreements(Heber J!), doubts (BH Roberts), and struggles. Most remarkable, I felt, were the twin historical humps of polygamy and the MMM(Mountain Meadows Massacre).
With polygamy, there were stories that ran the gamut from difficult spouses, to mushy lovers. And the MMM was a horrific set of domino-esqe choices that led to tragedy. * But they spare no feelings and attach plenty of blame. But, when placed in context, many of the "juicier" topics were understandable. They didn't always make sense (I still wanted to shake Mr. Haight and say "what were you thinking?") but you saw how each action may have affected the other.
I'm still not quite sure WHY Lorenzo Snow was ignored as much as he was. And some people I never did come to like(Please someone teach me to like Eliza R. Snow!). And I feel like they left out a couple of stories(Emmaline Wells had a good one, I heard), but they didn't really have a place in the narrative.
End note-- if you think, like others thought, that women were steamrolled over because of their religion, think again and read chapter 25.
*I must say, though, I did feel like they didn't really end the story. I'm pretty sure most people will want to know what happened to John D. Lee and Isaac Haight in terms of punishment.
No story is ordinary, but I think that the compilers did a good job of choosing people who were, in a way, outsiders. There's stories of separation, divorce, abandonment, disagreements(Heber J!), doubts (BH Roberts), and struggles. Most remarkable, I felt, were the twin historical humps of polygamy and the MMM(Mountain Meadows Massacre).
With polygamy, there were stories that ran the gamut from difficult spouses, to mushy lovers. And the MMM was a horrific set of domino-esqe choices that led to tragedy. * But they spare no feelings and attach plenty of blame. But, when placed in context, many of the "juicier" topics were understandable. They didn't always make sense (I still wanted to shake Mr. Haight and say "what were you thinking?") but you saw how each action may have affected the other.
I'm still not quite sure WHY Lorenzo Snow was ignored as much as he was. And some people I never did come to like(Please someone teach me to like Eliza R. Snow!). And I feel like they left out a couple of stories(Emmaline Wells had a good one, I heard), but they didn't really have a place in the narrative.
End note-- if you think, like others thought, that women were steamrolled over because of their religion, think again and read chapter 25.
*I must say, though, I did feel like they didn't really end the story. I'm pretty sure most people will want to know what happened to John D. Lee and Isaac Haight in terms of punishment.
staci_taylor's review
5.0
I’ve learned so much from volume 2... I think it’s common to discuss much of the foundation of the church’s history so reading volume 1 was kind of familiar for me (although I did learn new things). This one takes the cake on answering so many questions I’ve had but also creating new ones! I loved the discussion it brought in my home as my husband was reading it with me and I’m glad the church historians provided such great insight not only in the lives of the president and apostles of the church but other members day to day life all over the world.
sphynxreads's review
informative
medium-paced
3.0
July 2022 Reread in Tagalog
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This was a great book to get familiar with the lesser-known stories of our early church history. It was great to see people we followed in the first book and it was amazing to read about the newer Saints as the Church expanded. I also learned a lot more about the practice of polygamy than I had previously thought I would.
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This was a great book to get familiar with the lesser-known stories of our early church history. It was great to see people we followed in the first book and it was amazing to read about the newer Saints as the Church expanded. I also learned a lot more about the practice of polygamy than I had previously thought I would.