History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Volume 6

The final chapter of a prophet's life, rendered in his own words and those who witnessed his last months. This volume chronicles the nine months between September 1843 and June 1844, when Joseph Smith faced the converging forces of political rivalry, religious persecution, and mounting violence that would end in his assassination at Carthage Jail. The narrative captures the desperate negotiations to protect Nauvoo, the creation of the City Council and Nauvoo Legion as instruments of defense, and the increasingly frantic efforts to find safe harbor for the Latter-day Saints. Here too is the extraordinary document known as the 'Vision of the Glories of the Celestial Kingdom,' a revelation that offered believers a glimpse beyond mortality's veil. The book culminates in the martyrdom of both Joseph and his brother Hyrum, shot dead by a mob of over a hundred men who stormed their jail cell. For historians of American religion, students of 19th-century Mormonism, and anyone seeking to understand how faith survives when its prophet is marked for death, this volume offers an unparalleled primary source.