This book is a wonderful addition for the amateur genealogist of Connecticut families. Many things are explained here that flesh out the "facts" gleaned from documents about various family members. I particularly found helpful the discussion on property and town formations.

In England, the Puritans defied church and state. In America, ironically, the Puritans established colonies which came to emphasize deference to authority. In colonial New England, a rough equality in condition eased most tensions of hierarchy in status. By the eve of the Revolution, however, several factors--religious, political, economic and demographic--worked to rekindle the Puritan tradition of agitation and radicalism. The Protestant emphasis on the authority of individual conscience was revived. Richard L. Bushman explores these developments in Connecticut, providing a colorful social portrait. He brings to life arguments and controversies, illuminating the convictions and feelings of each side. Bushman's work proves very informative and quite readable.

In The Refinement of America, Richard L. Bushman focuses on gentility and how the desire to become one of society's elite led to the formation of a whole new class of consumers. The soaring demand for such accoutrements as porcelain and silver made way for industrial capitalism by creating a market economy. Bushman takes a positive outlook on the spread of commerce and gentility throughout the 18th century British Atlantic World. The gentrification and refinement of America created the desire for social mobility, the American Dream. "Gentility offered the hope that however poor or however undignified their work, could become middle class by disciplining themselves and adopting a few outward forms of genteel living." (Bushman, xvi) In this way lines between classes were blurred. Education and worldliness became more important than ever before, as being polite and well-spoken marked respectability. Bushman's work is easy to read and enjoyable. Growing up in present-day America, we are all taught by our parents to say "please" and "thank you," and Bushman offers us insight into the origins of polite culture. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning a little bit more about America (particularly, the 18th century) that is not found in school-used text books.

Richard L. Bushman, in his book Refinement of America, takes a fresh look at Colonial America and the cultural phenomena of the rise of "gentility." Taking a somewhat cross-disciplined approach to his material, he has combined the traditional historian's look at documentary evidence such as probate records, with an antiquarian's curatorial view of historic sites and an anthropological look at society and social customs. By close examination of the proliferation in material goods after 1690 as well as various other changes that show movement from from survival levels of existance to flourishing societies in the new colonies, Bushman lays groundwork demonstrating the profound impact that ideas of gentility had in the stratification of American society into classes. Perhaps the most interesting point that Bushman raises is the potential for cross-class mobility that existed in Colonial America. By examining the changes from one generation to the next, Bushman is able to show the push toward gentility and gentrification among a rising middle class of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Bushman, in describing the cities and society of eighteenth century America, also makes comparisons to the English and European societies--with their similar social functions and gentility. There is, however, a distinctly American and republican cast to the colonial culture that Bushman is pointing out by these comparisons. American genteel society is not merely a transplanted European aristocracy, but rather a new sort of upper class where status is gained through personal achievement; and family connections, while capable of giving advantage, are secondary to individual skills and success.

Overall, Bushman has painted a fascinating side of early American culture from a new perspective -- seeing a deep cultural phenomena of gentility taking shape and in turn shaping the American mind. With his in-depth look and cross-generational approach he makes a good case for his viewpoint on gentility. His variety of documents--probate papers and estates inventories taken together with letters and memoirs, balance out the total lives of his subjects. If there is any weakness to Bushman's book it is that it treats primanily with a such a small segment at the top of the social ladder and seems to neglect the daily lives of the lower classes against which the genteel must be juxtaposed. In all fairness, to have added a closer look at a wider cross-section of population would take far more than one volume and, in fact, might be better left to future texts. Bushman is to be commended for his socio-cultural approach to a issue that helped to shape American individuality and yet might never have been looked at closely by purely traditional historians.

The author is up front about his devout belief in the holy calling of Joseph Smith, Jr. as a modern-day prophet. He, therefore, takes Mr. Smith at his word as it relates to the chronology of many of the important LDS claims. He is otherwise reasonably critical and respectably analytical with the context of Joseph's arrival in the world up through the movement of the early Mormons to Kirtland, Ohio in 1831. Mr. Bushman confirms contemporary belief of the final composition of 1 & 2 Nephi after the rest of the Book of Mormon, as well as contrasting the early Mormon view of "restoration" being simply restoring Israel to its rightful place to the later, more fundamental "restoration" that the LDS Church holds today. I would have loved to read more of his analysis of the development of the early Mormon priesthood hierarchy, from Joseph and Oliver Cowdery as 1st and 2nd Elders of the Church, respectively, to the later Rigdonite, full-blown priesthood. Still, there's only so much one can cover in a "Beginnings" book. A great read for students, faithful LDS/Community of Christ/etc. or otherwise, of early Mormon history.

Richard L. Bushman is possibly the best historian on the subject of the Mormons. This book is thoroughly documented. Bushman focuses very much on the culture that Joseph Smith grew up in, he duscusses Joseph Smiths parents and grandparents on how they may have influenced him. Bushman is very honest and objective in his approach to the early life Joseph Smith. Bushman does not get caught up in verifying or disproving the claims of Joseph Smith. Bushman just states the facts and interprets when necesary. Richard Bushman is writing a full biography about Joseph Smith which I believe will become the definitive biography of Joseph Smith. Bushman also gives a very fair explanation on the Book of Mormon which is the most important work by Joseph Smith.

Bushman truly lives up to his reputation as a historian with this book. This work is both fair and engrossing, and it seems a very even way to learn about a man who was important in both helping to define American religious feeling and adding yet another dimension to the dynamic world of the early American republic. Another reviewer on this site declared Bushman's insights as dry, politically correct, and biased. This review demonstrated an amateur approach to history. As an academic historian, Bushman tries and succeeds to weigh all facts and give a needed view of Joseph Smith. Bushman is not the first professional historian to write a serious work for his peers about the history of his own faith, although he may be one of the first Mormon to do so. As any conscientious historian writing from such a perspective, he admits to his reader his biases and how he dealt with them to offer an accurate portrait of Joseph Smith. "Obsessively footnoted," said that reviewer. Spare me. That's what professional historians do. A person glancing at those footnotes would see how Bushman's thorough use of sources has helped him be a judicious historian. Read this book. It's a great read and a very important contribution.

It must be difficult to reduce such a complex subject as Mormonism into a good, short book for non-member young people, but that is what the Bushmans have done for this installment of the Oxford University Press series "Religion in American Life." I assume Richard, the well-known historian, wrote the chapters on basic LDS history. He doesn't sugarcoat or sensationalize. Claudia must have written the chapters on Mormons facing contemporary issues. They are refreshingly candid, and give the accurate impression that Mormons are human beings who struggle with personal problems along with everyone else. The two viewpoints nicely complement each other and give insight into a much-misunderstood movement. That they have been a successful couple in the New York academic world should make Mormons proud and should attract the attention of curious "gentiles":-)

I picked this book up in order to quickly get a better understanding of Mormon history. The Bushmans rapidly cover LDS history, but I was not satisfied with the depth of the material. The book is pretty much a straight narrative with little attempt at interpretation or critical evaluation. Of course, the book IS part of a series of religious history surveys for the general reader, so it is not too surprising that the Bushmans do not go very deep. Nonetheless, at only 103 pages, they could have offered a little bit more meat to their treatment of LDS history. The first half of the book dealing with early Mormon history is the best, but far too uncritical. (What ever happened to those golden plates revealed to Joseph Smith?) The second half of the book starts to read like a tract put out by the Church. It has an almost apologetic tone. When a controversial issue is broached, like Mormon teaching about African Americans, the authors handle it very delicately. Since the authors are both historians at Columbia, I expected better. It almost seems that the book was slapped together, especially at the end where the Bushmans jump from topic to topic. Having said all of that, I did learn some things from this volume, but there has got to be a better introduction to Mormon history out there. For those interested in a more critical look at one event in Mormon history, check out "Blood of the Prophets" by Will Bagley.

The authors did a reasonable job, the book is organized and readable, they just shouldn't have presented their expository as an objective history. It is simply an LDS primer with historical context. This book is not balanced and objective. While it does point out the controversies surrounding the religion, it tends to slide right on by rather than really address those issues. The preface actually points out the real purpose of the book, "The aim of this book is to explain how Mormons feel about their religion and how they hold on to their faith in the modern era." With that the real purpose, the subtitle, "A History..." should have been left off.

The authors' approach was stated to be to "understand Mormonism in terms of the experience of Mormon people". They presented the sometimes-stormy history of Mormonism, often in the midst of controversy, in a straighforward and non-judgmental way.

There has been some dispute as to whether Mormons are Christians. Critics say that the LDS doctrine of God does not conform to traditional Christian creed. Joseph Smith said he communicated directly with God; this is unlike reformers such as Calvin and Luther who used reason to interpret the Bible in new ways.

The authors presented a thorough background of Joseph Smith, from his fist vision at age 14 and his translation of the gold tablets into the Book of Molrmon. They then followed the Mormons as they headed West and founded settlements in Missouri, Ohio, and Illinois, among other places, on their way to Utah.

Plural marriage and its repercussions were thoroughly explained. By 1844, this and other pronouncements by Joseph Smith carried Mormonism beyond the bounds of conventional Christian belief. Smith was jailed after ordering the press of a dissenting newspaper in Nauvoo, Illinois destroyed and he was then killed by an angry mob while he was in jail.

By September 1846 14,000 "Saints" had fled west from Nauvoo and undertook a brutal trek toward the Rocky Mountains. Over the next 22 years, 300 wagon trains with over 10,000 wagons would travel to Utah. In Utah, Brigham Young, Joseph Smith's successor, designed the Salt Lake Valley according to Smith's plan for New Jerusalem.

In 1896, Wilford Woodruff, the LDS President, declared an end to polygamy, the price paid for Utah to become a state. This practice had raised national opposition to Mormonism.

Mormonism became more mainstream, no longer practiced in isolation. The Church Welfare Plan, which continues today, seems to be a model to promote self-sufficiency and co-operation.

The last section of the book dealt with Mormonism today: the church structure (local and national), tithing, missions, and religious education.