Description
Book SynopsisThe relationship between early Mormons and the United States was marked by anxiety and hostility, heightened over the course of the nineteenth century by the assassination of Mormon leaders, the Saints'' exile from Missouri and Illinois, the military occupation of the Utah territory, and the national crusade against those who practiced plural marriage. Nineteenth-century Latter-day Saints looked forward to apocalyptic events that would unseat corrupt governments across the globe, particularly the tyrannical government of the United States. The infamous White Horse Prophecy referred to this coming American apocalypse as a terrible revolution in the land of America, such as has never been seen before; for the land will be literally left without a supreme government. Mormons envisioned divine deliverance by way of plagues, natural disasters, foreign invasions, American Indian raids, slave uprisings, or civil war unleashed on American cities and American people. For the Saints, these viole
Trade ReviewCertainly, the book reveals a rich lode of apocalypticism that persists and changes within religious traditions that lay claim to be the restoration of all things prior to the earth's final dispensation. In so doing, it invites promising further work by scholars of religious futurism. * Tona Hangen, BYU Studies Quarterly *
It is when he begins to explore understudied material... that this book really starts to break new ground and offer not simply new history, but new perspectives on the trajectory of the new religious movement that Joseph Smith founded. * Matthew Bowman, Claremont Graduate University, Journal of Mormon History *
Blythe's most admirable achievement with this volume is his ability to provide a fascinating, easily accessible, but still truly academic, thoroughly researched, and meticulously presented cultural and social history of the Latter-day Saints in the United States, structured around the theme of the apocalypse ... I wholeheartedly recommend Terrible Revolution. * Iren E. Annus, Nova Religio *
...this volume is a unique contribution to the literature on American religious history. Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. * D. S. Azzolina, CHOICE *
The title may include "Terrible," but this book is anything but. It is a unique contribution to understanding the history, theology, and folklore surrounding the much-anticipated end times through the eyes of the church and its lay members. * Kevin Folkman, Association For Mormon Letters *
Terrible Revolution was one of the most exciting and well-researched books I've read in a while. It is a book that you want to complete in one sitting, but don't. Instead, you show restraint and space out the reading because you want to savor the history and enjoy it a moment longer. * Christopher Angulo, Association of Mormon Letters blog *
Christopher Blythe has written an essential guide for understanding the religious culture of Mormonism. Terrible Revolution takes readers from early expectations of an imminent Second Coming, to the White Horse Prophecy, to contemporary preppers. An essential text. * John G. Turner, author of Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet *
In this illuminating study, Christopher Blythe spins a masterful narrative that combines an impressive breadth of sources, official and popular, to tell a story still unfolding in the 21st century." -Terryl Givens, author of Wrestling the Angel: The Foundations of Mormon Thought
Blythe's Terrible Revolution offers a smart, original, and compelling analysis of the evolving role of apocalyptic thinking in the LDS Church. Blythe has marshalled thousands of sources, some long hidden away in obscure places, and diligently connected them to larger social and political trends." -Matthew Avery Sutton, author of American Apocalypse: A History of Modern Evangelicalism
Blythe does a terrific job walking the reader through the shifts and nuances of the multiple apocalyptic themes that pepper the LDS imagination, both officially and unofficially." -Amy Hoyt, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought Ik Y
The Latter-day Saints of the nineteenth century belonged to an apocalyptic tradition, argues historian and folklorist Christopher Blythe in his highly informative book Terrible Revolution....Blythe charts the rise and fall of Mormon apocalyptic discourse over the two-hundred- year history of the Restoration. He defines "apocalyptic" as "the belief that society was headed toward cataclysmic events that would uproot the current social order in favor of a divine order that would be established in its place". * Patrick Q. Mason, Journal of Book of Mormon Studies *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Chapter One: The Apocalyptic Tradition in Early Mormonism Chapter Two: "Long Shall His Blood...Stain Illinois": Martyrology and Malediction Chapter Three: The Geography of Mormon Apocalyptic Chapter Four: The Judgments Begin: Apocalypticism in Utah Territory Chapter Five: The Americanization of Mormon Apocalyptic Chapter Six - Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Apocalyptic Trajectories Afterword: Apocalypticism in the "Mormon Moment" Notes Index
