The Gathering of Zion: The Story of the Mormon Trail

Wallace Stegner is a first rate chronicler of America's West-the area west of the 100th Meridian. This also includes Canada. His childhood was like that of a tumbleweed, he started in Iowa and then bounced around the great states of the West, including Canada's Saskatchewan.In America, one can't write about the West without discussing two things-the California Gold Rush, and the Mormons. Stegner wrote several books about the Mormons, this is about the most colorful and dashing part of their history, their "trail" or movement from Nauvoo, Illinois to the Salt Lake in Utah.The central thrust of the book is to lay bare the humanity of the original pioneers, their hopes, fears, and often intense frustrations. It makes for a very sympathetic study of the people and their time.

I'm not a Mormon, but I live in Salt Lake City, next to the Pioneer Museum, a block from the Capitol, and close to Temple Square. So I am about as thoroughly exposed to Mormon culture as most "Gentiles". Other more competent reviewers have dealt with the strengths of this amazing account of the ordeal that was the Mormon Trail, and of the courage (and occasional catastrophic mistakes) of the pioneer s and their leaders. What made this book especially valuable to me was that it helped me better understand my neighbors: the emphasis on strong faith, on community and mutual support, on cooperation and teamwork, on reaching unanimous decisions and "sustaining" leaders - all the qualities that that were essential in surviving the appalling crossing. I feel much more sympathetic towards these characteristics now (even while worrying, together with my "Jack Mormon" or ex-Mormon friends, whether they are altogether helpful in a modern world regrettably full of demagoguery and blatant self-interest).

Definitely not a beach read but "classical Stegner" well researched look at the Mormon trail and the journey along it. If you want an unbiased look at what really happened along that trail to Utah, this is the book.

I have ordered 3 books from Thrifty books in the last month or so. Each one has come in good time, and has been in excellent condition. I am very impressed with them.

We have traveled along much of the route of the Mormon Trail and thus decided to learn more by reading this book. Very detailed, and (of course) nobody writes of the American West like Wallace Stegner.

Stegner wrote this from a non-Mormon point of view and was very open and complimentary toward the people who lived the Mormon Trail. He also covers the missionary work in the British Isles and how that transferred to being Trail pioneers.

Not a Mormon, but a fan of these important Amercan pioneers.

A great story of the Mormans.

well written story of the Mormon exodus to Utah

For anyone who has driven across the plains and wondered how on earth the early settlers managed...this is a great book to read. Without dwelling on their misery it captures the challenges and also provides insights into the Mormon faith...which most people like me likely had very little understanding and a lot of myths.

Franz Hettinger, einer der gelehrtesten Persönlichkeiten des 19. Jhdt war schon an und für sich der Garant einer wissenschaftlichen Lesung. Er hat zu der sogenannten "Römischen Schule" gehört, welche so gute Theologen, wie Franzelin, Passaglia, Perrone, Denzinger, Kleutgen, Schrader, Scheeben entweder erzogen oder zumindest ziemlich beeinflusst hat. Selbst der Autor des Buches wurde unter der Bedachtnahme seiner exzellenten Gelehrtsamkeit zum Mitglied der dogmat.-theologischen Kommission des I. Vatikanischen Konzils erwählt. Sein Buch geht es in die Tiefe des Protestantismus, theologisch zerlegt er seine vielerlei Verbindungen mit anderen Irrlehren des 19. Jhdt. wie Rationalismus, Nihilismus, Cartesianismus usw. Nach der gründlichen Analysen schreibt der Autor dem Protestantismus eine große Rolle des Glaubensverlustes zu, was sich allerdings mit den anderen Theologen der "Römischen Schule" überlappt. Sicher ist dieses Buch nicht für jene gelegen, welche unbedingt einen ökumenischen Dialog zwischen dem Protestantismus und dem Katholizismus suchen. Aber für jene, welche mit den Argumenten und der Realität des Protestantismus arbeiten wollen, ist dieses Buch sehr geeignet.Vielleicht noch zwei Bemerkungen: Ich habe schon mehrere Bücher von einem Nachdruck bestellt und nicht alle wurden ganz in Ordnung kopiert (einige Seiten waren nicht lesbar usw.). Dieses Buch ist einwandfrei kopiert! Die zweite Bemerkung ist, dass die alte Sprache (1881) nicht zu kompliziert ist. Das unterstreicht noch der Sachverhalt, dass ich als Ausländer dieses Buch mit einer größeren Aufmerksamkeit ganz problemlos lesen konnte. Für einen Deutschen oder Österreicher muss es doch noch leichter sein. Zugleich entschuldige ich mich bei euch, wenn ich manche gramatische Fehler im Text begangen habe. Ich wollte doch, dass dieses Buch eine Rezension hat, weil es völlig verdient.