[Bradley’s] masterful treatment of Short Creek will not only become a standard reference for students of Mormon polygamy, but will also be appreciated by a larger audience as a much needed lesson on cross cultural understanding and religious tolerance.
Sunstone
A careful, humane observer and a sharp, resourceful writer and researcher, Bradley has carved out a chapter of our collective past that many will find disturbing.
The Salt Lake Tribune
One of the most accurate…insightful and analytical study of the roots and complexities of modern-day fundamentalism. [A] splendid volume. The value of Bradley’s book is immeasurable. It illuminates a period of Mormon history largely misunderstood, and provides a heretofore unseen glimpse of yesterday and today’s fundamentalist polygamist culture.
The Journal of Arizona History
Good writing and good scholarship combine to make an intelligent and engrossing book; Bradley here secures her reputation as a formidable scholar of some of the divergent paths of Mormonism.
Syzygy
This important and starkly relevant history addresses issues of religious freedom and politics as they relate to any denomination. Bradley brings to her subject fine research and a solid understanding of Mormon culture and social structures. She resists one-dimensional treatment of gender issues in polygamous family unions by providing insightful glimpses into the actual lives of a sincere community earnestly living not just religious tenets but a cultural consciousness.
Religious Studies Review
A serious student of Mormonism certainly will find the book interesting, as will anyone concerned with small, close-knit religious communities.
Utah Historical Quarterly
About the Author
Martha Bradley is assistant professor of history at Brigham Young University.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents:
Contents
Preface
1. Mormon Polygamy: A Historical Overview, 1830-1890
2. The Roots of Modern-Day Fundamentalism, 1896-1935
3. Short Creek: First Settlements, 1860-1935
4. The Search for Refuge and the First Raid, 1935
5. The Boyden Raid and Prosecutions, 1944-1950
6. The Aftermath of the 1944 Raid
7. The Women of Fundamentalism
8. Howard Pyle and the Raid of 1953
Photograph Section
9. The "Capture" of Short Creek
10. The Legal Experience
11. Denouement: The Black Case, 1954
12. Short Creek in 1992
Appendix A. Fundamentalist Families Involved in the 1953 Raid
Appendix B. Statement by Arizona Governor Howard Pyle
Notes to Chapters
Bibliography
Index
