American Polygamy: A History of Fundamentalist Mormon Faith - Paperback

by Craig L. Foster (Author), Marianne Thompson Watson (Author)

Today's Fundamentalist Mormons in the American West resist assimilation like their forefathers. Centered on faith, they survive despite efforts to permanently end their cherished plural family arrangements. While some Fundamentalists like Warren Jeffs go rogue and corrupt their beliefs in heinous crimes, most hold steadfastly to a religion they say is biblical and restored by the first Latter-day Saint prophet, Joseph Smith, in the early 1800s. Mormon historians Craig Foster and Marianne Watson present more than two hundred photos and exclusive insights to explain how an estimated thirty thousand Fundamentalist Mormons still venerate a much-debated legacy--despite its difficult challenges--and persist in living plural marriage.

Author Biography

A research specialist at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Craig L. Foster is the author/coauthor of three books and is the coeditor of the three-volume Persistence of Polygamy series. A graduate of the University of Utah history department and raised as a member of the Apostolic United Brethren, Marianne T. Watson has been widely published and presented at conferences, including the Mormon History Association, the Western History Association and the first Mormon history conference in Brazil in 2010.