History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Volume 3

This is Joseph Smith's own account of the most harrowing chapter in early Mormon history: the Saints' persecution in Missouri during the late 1830s. Smith writes as both prophet and survivor, documenting the systematic violence that drove his followers from Jackson County, the infamous extermination order that forced them to flee the state, and his own imprisonment in Liberty Jail. The narrative captures a faith under siege and a leader struggling to maintain divine purpose amid brutal political conflict. Smith presents his revelations as responses to crisis, making this not merely history but a theological argument about suffering and chosenness. The text reveals the tensions between Mormon political ambitions and the fears of Missourians who saw the Saints as a dangerous theocratic enclave. For readers interested in American religious movements, frontier violence, or the construction of sacred history, this volume offers an indispensable primary source: the founder's own account of how his people survived extermination.