I grew up in Utah as a non-Mormon. While I was surrounded by the culture of the Mormon church all of my life, I never fully understood it and always felt like an outsider. My parents kept me away from their teachings - wanting me to focus on my own religion instead. A couple of years ago my sister told me about this book. I read it last summer and thoroughly enjoyed it. It gave me a deeper understanding of the history of the church, the mentality behind polygamy and a more sympathetic view of the situation in general. I did notice, however, while reading this book that if you don't have a basic understanding of the Mormon culture you may not understand everything that is going on as the author doesn't go into a lot of detail about why certain things are happening. Ms. Whipples writing is incredible - very moving and descriptive. I'd recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about the reality of polygamy.

The Giant Joshua was first published in 1941. Maureen Whipple grew up in Southern Utah and was able to capture a great deal of the culture, folklore and local color in this rather stinging indictment of polygamy. She has an interesting subject in and interesting area. The book is a little harder to read than today's best sellers...but was worth the struggle.

I read this book several years ago,while I was living on the East Coast and missing the West. I found Ms. Whipple's descriptions of a vanished way of life - polygamy in the early days of Mormon settlement - and a vanished landscape - the West of the past - honest and sensitively drawn. I recommend it to anyone who seeks to understand the human element in the polygamist culture.