Essentials in Church History: A History of the Church from the Birth of Joseph Smith to the Present Time (1922), with Introductory Chapters on the Antiquity of the Gospel and the "Falling Away

Written by Joseph Fielding Smith, who would later become President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this 1922 volume offers a window into how early twentieth-century LDS leadership understood their own origins. Smith traces the narrative from what he calls the 'antiquity of the Gospel' through the predicted 'falling away' of primitive Christianity, then onto Joseph Smith's prophetic revelations in the 1820s and the subsequent founding of the Church. The book covers pivotal events: the First Vision, the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, the organization of the Church in 1830, the martyrdom at Carthage, and the dramatic western migration to Utah. Smith writes as a believing participant, not a detached historian; his account presents the Restoration as direct divine intervention in human affairs rather than a phenomenon requiring external analysis. This is neither neutral history nor hagiography, but rather a deliberate act of theological narration. For readers interested in American religious history, Mormon studies, or the evolution of LDS self-understanding, the book serves as a primary source revealing how the Church framed its own story during a period of institutional consolidation and growing national attention.