Bookstore Home > History

Great Basin Kingdom: An Economic History of the Latter-day Saints, 1830-1900 (New Edition)

Leonard J. Arrington; Ronald W. Walker (Introduction), 2004, Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 6x9.25" soft cover, 576 pages, 30 photographs, 7 line drawings.

Leonard Arrington, who died in 1999, is considered by most, if not all, serious scholars of Mormon and western history as the single most important figure to write on LDS history. Great Basin Kingdom is perhaps his greatest work.

A classic in Mormon studies and western history, Great Basin Kingdom offers insights into the 'underdeveloped' American economy, a comprehensive treatment of one of the few native American religious movements, and detailed, exciting stories from little-known phases of Mormon and American history.

This edition includes thirty new pictures and an introduction by Ronald W. Walker that provides a brief biography of Arrington, as well as the history of the work, its place in Mormon and western historiography, and its lasting impact.

Of the original book, David J. Whittaker wrote,

"The appearance of Leonard J. Arrington's Great Basin Kingdom in October 1958 was an important event in Mormon historiography. Reviewers hailed it as "one of the most important books ever produced about the Mormons and Mormonism"; "a significant and definitive contribution"; "easily the most informative single volume yet published on the Mormons in Utah." Lewis Atherton in the Economic History Review wrote, "This book has the virtues of intensive research and mature deliberation." T. A. Larson in the Annals of Wyoming, described it as "a masterpiece" and further said that "the work is objective, analyzing church successes and failures with admirable impartiality." With hardly less admiration, Dale Morgan in the Utah Historical Quarterly, wrote, "Few scholars working in the Mormon field have displayed an industry and energy comparable to that of Leonard J. Arrington .... As a descriptive work, Great Basin Kingdom is an immense accomplishment, and can be consulted with pleasure and profit." Leland H. Creer agreed, "it is probably the most definitive and provocative study on any phase of Utah or Mormon history published during the last three decades." In a prophetic note, W. J. McNiff wrote, "This book illustrates the fact that the mine of Mormon history has rich possibilities for an understanding of American life and beliefs.""

The late Leonard J. Arrington was Lemuel Redd Professor of Western History at Brigham Young University, LDS Church Historian, director of the LDS Historical Department, and director of the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute of Church History at BYU. A founding member and past president of the Western History Association, he was the author of over twenty books.

Ronald W. Walker is a professor of history at Brigham Young University and author of Qualities that Count: Heber J. Grant as Businessman, Missionary, and Apostle and Wayward Saints.

Title: Great Basin Kingdom: An Economic History of the Latter-day Saints, 1830-1900 (New Edition)

Retail Price: ~~$30.00~~

Your Price: Only $24.00

FAIR is not owned, controlled by or affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All research and opinions provided on this site are the sole responsibility of FAIR, and should not be interpreted as official statements of LDS doctrine, belief or practice.

You can send comments/suggestions using our contact page.