David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism by Gregory A. Prince

Jan 10, 2013 Emily rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography, non-fiction

I am often disappointed in the lack of awareness and knowledge we Mormons have about our own history. Just this month we began our quadrennial Sunday School study of the Doctrine & Covenants and, ostensibly, Church history. But the actual lessons are almost exclusively topical studies of specific verses, most often pulled out of context, from the Doctrine & Covenants, and almost no mention is made of events after 1847 or so. And don't get me started on that little yellow pamphlet Our Her...more

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Mar 15, 2008 Sam rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: those interested in LDS history

Recommended to Sam by: A random LDS history blog I ran into

Shelves: religious-readings

I pride myself on being stingy with the 5 star rating. But this book definitely earned it.

It's brilliant! If you're into LDS history this is a must-read. David O. McKay's leadership can easily be regarded as "A New Era" for Mormonism. McKay's two immediate predecessors as church president wore beards and came from polygamous families. McKay brought the church out of obscurity and out of North America. The church tripled in size during McKay's time as prophet but it wasn't without growing pains....more

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Feb 05, 2013 Petrea rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: petrea-s-book-shelf

There are many ways to approach writing history--one's own point of view dictates the choice of quotations,sources etc. Some modern historians like to delve into controversy claiming that they are presenting "truth". but I often find that their "truth" is no more true than another "truth" which might not be so critical. Admittedly I grew up reading "Pollyanna" and other such books. Also it is very tempting to judge people of the past by the currently popular "politically correct" values--thus a...more There are many ways to approach writing history--one's own point of view dictates the choice of quotations,sources etc. Some modern historians like to delve into controversy claiming that they are presenting "truth". but I often find that their "truth" is no more true than another "truth" which might not be so critical. Admittedly I grew up reading "Pollyanna" and other such books. Also it is very tempting to judge people of the past by the currently popular "politically correct" values--thus a modern author has a difficult time writing with sympathy about slave holders in the early United States, or about the fear of Communism in the 1950's.

These authors had access to diaries kept by President McKay's secretary, Claire Middlemiss, and also to the writings of other people who were contemporaries of President McKay--but had their own axes to grind. They seemed unusually eager to cast aspersions on other General Authorities with whom President McKay worked, and they weren't hesitant to criticize his actions, motives and dealings with others.

I enjoyed parts of this book because of my own memories of President McKay and of some of the incidents mentioned, but was a little sickened by the cavalier destruction of such people as J. Reuben Clark, Henry D. Moyle and others. I loved the parts about President McKay's friendship with Lyndon Johnson--what an unexpected and delightful glimpse.

I liked the inclusion of President McKay's visit to BYU with President Truman--I remember that occasion--I was in 5th grade--we walked from our grade school to the stadium to hear President Truman--but for me the great part of the day was that I got to shake hands with President McKay--I did not use or wash that hand for a very long time.

I guess we all know that the men who lead the church have strong personalities and strong opinions and that they sometimes disagree. We also know that growth does not come without its problems. But we also know that the Brethren are often inspired, that they work together for the common good and that the problems of growth are balanced by many, many good things--even great and inspiring things. I wish this book had contained more greatness, more inspiration.(less)

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Jan 06, 2013 Megan rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Petrea

Recommended to Megan by: Judy Dushku

Shelves: bookgroup

I went into the reading of this book with apprehension. I knew that this book was not "condoned" by the church as an offical biography. Nor was it published by Deseret Book. The information that was used to write David O McKay's biography primarily came from David O McKay's secretary, a woman who served by his side for many years. She never married and she never had children, so she spent every evening after returning home from work, taking notes on everything that had happened that day--who Pre...more I went into the reading of this book with apprehension. I knew that this book was not "condoned" by the church as an offical biography. Nor was it published by Deseret Book. The information that was used to write David O McKay's biography primarily came from David O McKay's secretary, a woman who served by his side for many years. She never married and she never had children, so she spent every evening after returning home from work, taking notes on everything that had happened that day--who President McKay spoke with, who he met with, what was said, etc. She compiled bookshelves worth of scrapbooks, saving letters, newspaper clippings and her own journaling accounts. She had always intended to write a biography of David O McKay, but didn't complete it in her lifetime. the church asked for her scrapbooks, but she refused. Instead she handed over the information to her nephew and he wrote it with a friend. They did an additional 10 years of research before writing.
My questions going in to this book were: a) Did McKay's secretary have a "right" to this information? Did she have the right to take things that happened behind closed doors and make it public? and b) Is this book a biography that David O. McKay would have been proud of? Would he have wanted people to read this information about him?
Although the first chapter or two have a few stories that show the mantle of his prophetic calling and are very inspiring, I found the rest of the material--about the church's process of considering whether Blacks should have the Priesthood, and about Communism, and about how the brethren worked or didn't work together to be really faith-shaking. I felt very disheartened that the Lord had to be so patient with the members of our church for such a long period of time. And also disheartened that the church was run by such imperfect people (not President McKay particularly, but the other apostles and first presidency). It did make me realize how far the church has come in the way it reacts to things. The church from McKay's period was so eager to excommunicate everyone who disagreed on doctrine to even the slightest degree. The church during that time would NEVER have had the humor to publish full page ads in the "Book of Mormon" musical. We're a lot more relaxed now about people thinking different things and giving them that freedom.
David O McKay's secretary was the "gatekeeper" to see him. She accepted bribes and gifts from people to allow them entrance and audience with David O. McKay. That smacks of priestcraft to me.
If you want to find a story that will build your faith this is not it. If you don't mind reading a book in which the Lord's prophet is made to look like a chump, then this is it.
We did have a great book discussion about this book. I wouldn't recommend it to most people however, because I feel like books that build are always better than those that tear down.
I didn't personally suffer a crisis of faith, but I felt very heavily weighted and disheartened by this book. Others at book group said that if they'd read this book when they'd been investigating the church, they would never have joined.(less)

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Jun 15, 2012 Sharon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Deserves a 4.5, perhaps a 5 star recommendation. Very thorough, excellent primary sources, tight narrative within each chapter. An overarching narrative would have been a capstone, but I'm not complaining. I think every serious LDS member should ask him/herself about how the 19th century church became the 20th century church. Pres. McKay's life and service, as church president, was pivotal, dynamic, and engaging to read about. Delightful to read of his friendships with SLC Catholic and Protestan...more

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May 25, 2012 Don B rated it 4 of 5 stars

An excellent book and a 'must-read' for anyone interested in the historical evolution of the church. Pres McKay bridged the "Utah Church" with the "World Church". Great insights into the growth and transformation of church administration. As the church grew rapidly during his time in the 12 and First Presidency, it is easy to see how and why many of the direct oversight responsibilities of the 12 needed to be delegated to others--and how this would cause some real growing pains. His tenure as Ch...more

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Sep 12, 2009 Jessie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: lds-nonfiction

I liked this book quite a lot more than I thought I would; it is long and has extensive footnotes, but the writing is very readable and most of the chapters were very interesting. The book is organized by themes rather than chronologically, so it was occasionally confusing, but other than that it seemed well-written and carefully researched. I learned a lot more about President McKay and the history of the Church during the mid-twentieth century than I had known before, and many issues and ideas...more

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Apr 29, 2013 Priscilla rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: lds, biographies, not-finished

I didn't finish the entire book. It was due back at the library and they wouldn't let me renew it. I finished a little more than half of it and if I have time, I will go back and finish the rest.

This is a very intense book. It's not so much about President Mckay. It's more about how the Church developed during the time he was prophet. It is very thorough and well researched, but I felt like it was a bit negative and critical of Church leaders. When I first started reading the book, it was refres...more

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Apr 11, 2013 Eddy Allen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: arts-and-historical

Ordained as an apostle in 1906, David O. McKay served as president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1951 until his death in 1970. Under his leadership, the church experienced unparalleled growth—nearly tripling in total membership—and becoming a significant presence throughout the world.

The first book to draw upon the David O. McKay Papers at the J. Willard Marriott Library at the University of Utah, in addition to some two hundred interviews conducted by the authors, Davi...more

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Mar 01, 2013 Andrea rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was an interesting look at church history. I loved feeling like I was getting the inside scoop into the inner workings of the church during David O. Mckay's time as president of the church. I like reading biographies of prophets and viewing their lives and seeing how they were prepared to spiritually lead. This book was different in that way for me in that it looked more at the time period that DOM served as prophet and the issues he faced. Even though there was extensive diaries available...more

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Jan 11, 2013 Drew Johnson rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was a candid view of church affairs. Interesting to see the divirgent views of the apostles. I think the Lord in his wisdom wants the world of ideas represented so the prophet hears it all, weighs it in thougth, prayer and revelation and then acts.

Hugh B Brown emerges in my mind as a hero. He countered some of the other brethrens views on civil rights, blacks in the priesthood and was helpful in maintaining the church's stance of political neutrality.

Relationship between LBJ and Mckay was...more

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Sep 10, 2012 Viliami rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book was a game changer. With fluidity it guided me through the book from beginning to end. It has since let me mine it for quotes and sources. It now operates as a resource book in my library.

Aside, from all that nonsense, DOM provides access to deep interpersonal relationship and insights into the interworkings of the institution of the Church and the Priesthood (Men) that govern both the temporal and spiritual needs of a large Church. Doctrinal, personal, and current events helped shape...more

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Feb 04, 2013 Jared rated it 4 of 5 stars

A fascinating look at a fascinating man and church. My only quibbles with the book stem from the occasional insertions of the author's (two authors are listed but Gregory Prince did all the writing) ideologies into the book namely in the treatment of some individuals who never quite seem to have a balanced presentation throughout the book. The author also seemed to focus more on the controversies and really seemed to almost beat a dead horse in the Confrontation with Communism chapter. Other tha...more

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Oct 21, 2011 Aaron rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-read-in-2011

This is a very interesting book that shows the GA's aren't as united as they usually appear, although it seems that the divisions were more public several decades ago than they are today. The LDS Church is led by Jesus Christ, but He leads it through fallible, imperfect men and women, which will naturally lead to disputes. I'm currently reading Elder McConkie's Doctrinal New Testament Commentary series, and I recently read the section on the revelation to the ancient church regarding the preachi...more This is a very interesting book that shows the GA's aren't as united as they usually appear, although it seems that the divisions were more public several decades ago than they are today. The LDS Church is led by Jesus Christ, but He leads it through fallible, imperfect men and women, which will naturally lead to disputes. I'm currently reading Elder McConkie's Doctrinal New Testament Commentary series, and I recently read the section on the revelation to the ancient church regarding the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles. Elder McConkie points out that, just as there were disagreements then about how the church should interact with the Gentiles (e.g., was circumcision required?), there are disagreements among church leaders today. As I read that, I specifically thought of Elder McConkie's participation in the debate about the priesthood ban for Blacks of African descent. This biography of President McKay makes it clear that it was in fact a debate, with strong feelings on both sides of the issue held by members of the Quorum of the Twelve and the First Presidency.

The interesting thing is that Pres. McKay didn't seem to have a strong opinion one way or the other. Pres. McKay did indicate that the priesthood ban was a church policy and was not doctrinal, but he also said that a revelation was needed to change the policy. Beyond that, however, Pres. McKay's opinion on the ban seemed to change, depending on who he was talking to. When speaking with Harold B. Lee or Ezra Taft Benson, both of whom strongly opposed lifting the ban (but for different reasons -- Elder Lee on doctrinal grounds and Elder Benson on a political basis), Pres. McKay would also emphatically state that the ban should not be lifted. When speaking with President Hugh B. Brown, however, who advocated for lifting the ban (and occasionally got himself in trouble with Pres. McKay in doing so), Pres. McKay would seem to lean towards allowing blacks to receive the priesthood, even going so far as to explore lifting the ban as to the Aaronic -- but not the Melchizedek -- Priesthood.

In fact, Pres. McKay's seeming indecisiveness permeates this biography. There are many, many issues or controversies addressed in the book that show Pres. McKay sending out mixed, and sometimes even conflicting, signals. It made Pres. McKay seem ambivalent, at best. I wish that the authors had included more discussion of his sermons, which the authors made clear were faithfully collected and preserved by Pres. McKay's personal secretary, Claire Middlemiss, who is the real hero of this book because it was her efforts to preserve a record of Pres. McKay's church life that made the book possible. If a discussion of Pres. McKay's relevant teachings were included with the discussion of each of the controversies in the book, I think a more correct view -- a more solid view -- of Pres. McKay would have been presented. The authors did this in the early chapter on Free Agency, and that chapter was very, very good. By failing to do that, this "Biography" seemed to be more about issues the church faced during the 50's and 60's, than a book about how Pres. McKay addressed and dealt with those issues.

I still really, really enjoyed this book (who knew that the Church's building program could be exciting?), and I'm giving it four stars. It would deserve five-stars, however, if the authors had focused their "Biography" on its subject a little more and presented a clearer picture of President McKay. (less)

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May 21, 2012 Jeffrey Howard rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography, mormon-studies

The only other book that has shaped my views and stances regarding Mormon Studies this much has been "Rough Stone Rolling" by Bushman. Rise of Modern Mormonism shows an honest and generous inside look at the lives of David O. McKay and other church leaders in the mid-20th century. While being fair and kind, Prince shows all the human and fallible sides of church leadership. That includes all the power-struggles, biases, prejudices and stubborn wills of these revered men.

Reading it has significa...more

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Jan 14, 2013 Samuel rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is a little odd for a biography in that it does not follow a chronological organization but rather groups events by subject and then proceeds chronologically within each chapter. Although it is a little frustrating to never get a full picture of his personal life (marriage, children, etc.) and likewise to get several paragraphs of repeated information, the organization of the book makes a lot of sense in retrospect. This biography covers a lot of ground and is mostly thorough. David O...more This book is a little odd for a biography in that it does not follow a chronological organization but rather groups events by subject and then proceeds chronologically within each chapter. Although it is a little frustrating to never get a full picture of his personal life (marriage, children, etc.) and likewise to get several paragraphs of repeated information, the organization of the book makes a lot of sense in retrospect. This biography covers a lot of ground and is mostly thorough. David O McKay is a very interesting character that I think comes off as supremely understanding and principled.

David O. McKay was President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1951-1970, during which time the Church's population nearly tripled. His administration saw the construction of the first Temples outside of North America (London, Switzerland, and New Zealand); this accompanied a strong desire for converts to remain in their home-lands and build up the Stakes of Zion rather than gather to Zion (Utah). The transformation of the Church from the 50s to the 70s is rather significant; it can clearly be said that these years paved the way for the Mormon Church to be considered a truly global organization by the end of the 20th century. David O. McKay can accurately be credited for leading the Mormon Church into the Modern Era in many significant ways. Some of his eccentricities: he was clean-shaven with no polygamous ties in his immediate family (unlike all the other Church Presidents from B. Young to G. A. Smith); he wore white and light-colored summer suits (unlike virtually all other contemporary) General Authorities; and he was uncharacteristically understanding and sympathetic to most every person he met and talked with one-on-one.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the Mormon culture and church, especially those interested in how politics, cultures, and policies are discussed and dealt with within the Mormon Church. It is clear that the Church tries very hard to divorce itself from political affiliations in its official statements but does get entangled from time-to-time due to individual opinions and actions that are often mistaken for Church policy if not doctrine. I feel like this is a thorough, and mostly fair, portrait of a charismatic leader.
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Jul 10, 2012 Jared rated it 5 of 5 stars

My hat off to Clare Middlemiss for the amazing record keeping that made this invaluable work possible; and to Greg Prince for allowing the record (e.g., predominately journals and correspondence) to speak for itself, with helpful contextual commentary throughout.

Not only is this interesting history--organized thematically rather than chronologically--but an eye-opening look into the inner workings of the upper echelon of the Mormon hierarchy. The process is altogether less harmonious than one m...more My hat off to Clare Middlemiss for the amazing record keeping that made this invaluable work possible; and to Greg Prince for allowing the record (e.g., predominately journals and correspondence) to speak for itself, with helpful contextual commentary throughout.

Not only is this interesting history--organized thematically rather than chronologically--but an eye-opening look into the inner workings of the upper echelon of the Mormon hierarchy. The process is altogether less harmonious than one may suppose, with warm debate, alliances, and politicking (by some; e.g., Ezra T. Benson) appearing as recurring characters in the drama - softened, of course, by the mutual love, respect, and devotion continually upheld by and among the quorums of Church leadership. Paradoxically, rather than denigrate the men and women involved, and the Church generally, this taste of reality serves both to humanize the characters and humble the reader with a sense of wonder at what may be accomplished from the collective - and sometimes inspired - work of otherwise fallible individuals.

McKay's wonderfully liberal sentiment towards others, especially towards those who held views markedly different from his own, was one of preserving individuality in thought and freedom of expression and belief. He was even an ardent defender of some holding less than traditional or orthodox views (e.g., Sterling McMurrin, Juanita Brooks). When other Church leaders called for excommunication, McKay offered his support and sympathy to the accused, and sought meaningful reconciliation. McKay not only upheld the ideal of personal agency and individuality of expression and belief, but he fully accepted the consequences of such (e.g., as with some of the writings of Bruce McConkie and Joseph Fielding Smith, with which McKay allegedly disapproved, but upheld their right to hold their own opinions).

In dress, appearance, and persona, McKay represented a stark break in the trend of mostly beard-wearing Presidents that proceeded him; and he was the first of such to come from a non-polygamous heritage. His world-wide tour of the Church's missions early in his ministry shaped the rest of his life and provided the foundation of his single greatest contribution as President: that of international expansion of the Church. In personality, independence of mind, and strength of character, David O. McKay is a hero of mine, imperfections and all. I heartily recommend this book to all, and hope others may find a friend in McKay, as I have. (less)

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Jun 16, 2012 Marcelaine rated it 5 of 5 stars

I thought this book was really interesting and gave some good insights into the changes the LDS church was going through while David O. McKay was the prophet. If you read it you need to recognize that prophets are human and that they make mistakes, which is why I feel a little hesitant to recommend it to just anybody. The authors were trying to make this an objective book and present the facts, not rave about how wonderful David O. McKay was. I think when you read this book you have to recognize...more I thought this book was really interesting and gave some good insights into the changes the LDS church was going through while David O. McKay was the prophet. If you read it you need to recognize that prophets are human and that they make mistakes, which is why I feel a little hesitant to recommend it to just anybody. The authors were trying to make this an objective book and present the facts, not rave about how wonderful David O. McKay was. I think when you read this book you have to recognize that the church is not stagnant and it has to change to accommodate growth and current events, and you also have to recognize that we are still figuring out how God wants the church to be led. We had to figure out how we would deal with politics, building, finances, organization, etc., and at the time of President McKay our position in some of those areas wasn't established yet, which led to some misunderstandings and conflicts. But in the end I was left feeling very impressed with him and what was accomplished while he was the prophet.

I was impressed at the insights he had in implementing the building program. It was very important to him because he recognized that it was difficult for the church to grow when outside of the United States the members didn't have decent places to meet, which meant they didn't leave a very good impression. (Try inviting your friends to come to Sacrament Meeting in the back room of a bar.) The church grew much more rapidly after nice meetinghouses and temples started being built throughout the world. One of the effects of this was that instead of telling members to come to Zion, they were encouraged to stay where they were and build Zion there, which meant that people with good testimonies stayed put and built up the church throughout the world, so that the church became an international church instead of just a Utah church.

There is a very interesting chapter about the issue of black people receiving the priesthood. It discusses many of the misconceptions around that issue--i.e. they were less faithful/fence-sitters in the war in Heaven, they are cursed because they are descendants of Cain/Ham, etc. (none of which are true). Like I said before, you have to realize that prophets are human and are not perfect. A lot of the apostles at the time had grown up with some views that were racist and because of that they didn't think that black people should have the priesthood. It was interesting to note that Spencer W. Kimball was silent on this issue--and years later he was the prophet who was able to announce that all men would receive the priesthood. People didn't seem to have a very good impression of the civil rights movement here in the West, which is partly understandable since there weren't a lot of black people there. Some of the apostles at the time seem to have associated that civil rights movement with the spread of Communism (especially Ezra Taft Benson). Anyway, I learned a lot of interesting things about the perspective the leaders of the church had at the time on civil rights and black people receiving the priesthood. I get the impression that as time went President McKay learned a lot about the issue and by the time he died was hoping that soon the blacks would be able to receive the priesthood.

Free agency (the ability to choose right and wrong) was really important to President McKay, and because of that I thought he had some really good insights into why Communism is a bad idea. He felt that taking away free agency was a crime and prevents people from making spiritual progress, and from all the things I have studied about Communism, that is exactly what tends to happen under Communist rule.(less)

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Aug 07, 2010 Joseph rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book for the candid, unvarnished look into the lives and decision-making of David O. McKay and other leaders at the time in the LDS church. This book reminds me a lot of "Joseph Smith:Rough Stone Rolling" for its candor. We need histories like this. I found it very helpful in understanding the version of the church that existed while my Dad was growing up, going on a mission, and starting his family.

I was fascinated by the portrayals of Bruce R. McConkie as essentially rogue when i...more

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Feb 06, 2010 Dave rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: religion, read-in-2010

The content of this book is priceless. Anyone interested in the inner workings of the church in its transition from "Utah" to world church should crack this open. I have only two complaints. First, the authors organized the material around subject matter, not chronology. They reason (and perhaps rightly so) that a chronological rendering of President McKay's ministry would be murky and convoluted. The effect of this organization though, is a lot of repetition, and the book feels more like 15 dis...more

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Sep 28, 2012 Alan Marchant rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical, mormonania, nonfiction

Note. Subsequent events raise serious questions regarding my original review below. Greg Prince, a wealthy beltway bandit and director of Dialogue, recently dropped all pretense of evenhanded judgement regarding Mormon personalities with his unhinged letter to the Huffington Post criticizing Mitt Romney for a lack of humanity. This brings into question a long list of personally critical observations that tie this book together.

the best of Mormon history

David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormo...more Note. Subsequent events raise serious questions regarding my original review below. Greg Prince, a wealthy beltway bandit and director of Dialogue, recently dropped all pretense of evenhanded judgement regarding Mormon personalities with his unhinged letter to the Huffington Post criticizing Mitt Romney for a lack of humanity. This brings into question a long list of personally critical observations that tie this book together.

the best of Mormon history

David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism is not a biography of David O. McKay. Rather it is a modern history of the church that he led as prophet and chief executive from 1951 to 1970. As such, the book is remarkable for its scope, honesty, even-handedness, and accessibility. It comprehensively explains the complete range of organization, societal, and doctrinal issues addressed by the church during the middle years of the twentieth century.

The book is based primarily on an exhaustive documentary archive maintained by Claire Middlemiss, who was President McKay's personal secretary from 1935 until 1970. The book's authors, Robert Wright and Gregory Prince, have augmented that record with other unique historical documents and candid interviews from contemporaneous church leaders. The result is an exceptionally satisfying and intimate description of the church and its leadership that is at once true to the prophet's vision and faithful to the ideals of historical truth.

The book provided me with many insights into events and persons that I recall from childhood. The authors carefully let the personalities of the prophet and his associates speak for themselves, their weaknesses as well as their remarkable strengths and virtues.

My only (very minor) criticism is that the authors make the common mistake of uncritically assuming that the Mormon church somehow promoted Republican dominance of Utah. From my experience as a Utah Democrat, it is clear that starting in the 60's that party simply abandoned the Inter-mountain West. (less)

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Mar 28, 2010 Alex rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: religious, inspiration-for-my-temperament-book, biography, non-fiction

David O. Mckay's ENTJ temperament, brilliant mind, and sterling character

"The world produces few David McKays, and it's those few who change the world." --Pres. Harold B. Lee p. 29

"He brought and infectious optimism." p. 22

"his philosophy was that true education is liberal, painted by the broad brush strokes of all academic disciplines, unfettered by thin pencil lines of dogma." p. 159

David O. Mckay's skills as an administrator were limited. In large part, this was due to his distaste for bureau...more

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Apr 22, 2009 Hawkgrrrl rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This was a fascinating read with insights into the inner workings of the apostles of the LDS church and the impacts David O. McKay had on things like: apostles writing inaccurate books without authorization under the name of the church (both Joseph Fielding Smith for Man, His Origin and Destiny and his son-in-law Bruce R. McConkie for the ubiquitous Mormon Doctrine), interfaith relations (the image of Bishop Hunt asking with tears in his eyes if David O. McKay really thought RC was church of the...more

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Oct 26, 2007 Jason rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: the Moderate Mormon

Shelves: churchy-stuff

I would say this is a must read for all members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but some may have a hard time with it. The book does not present the caricature version of a prophet that you may have been taught in Primary. For President McKay's testimony and teachings, see the priesthood-Relief Society manual. This book is less a biography of the man and more a history of the Church in the middle of the 20th century.

The book sheds light on topics as titillating as the priesth...more

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Sep 01, 2009 Jake rated it 3 of 5 stars

A burly 400 pager (big pages). Lots of good info, but it feels like the authors get side-tracked on 40 page tangents multiple times. It fees like the authors thought, "this is real juicy information, but not really relevant... let's include it anyway!" You can tell the difference between the two types of readers on Goodreads. Those who gave it three stars included in their review "too much mostly irrelevant gossip" and those who gave it five stars called it a "page turner." My advice: ignore the...more

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Jan 03, 2010 Karrisloan rated it 4 of 5 stars

I loved how this book was a forthright history of the life and times of David O. McKay. It was written by using the journals of his Secretary Ms. Middlemas (who was an avid journal keeper). I really admire David O. McKay, he had to make many difficult decisions. He was very progressive for his time, and he was driven by love not power. This book gave me better insight to some of the hard things in that time in the history of the church (i.e. giving blacks the priesthood).

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Mar 29, 2009 Jacob J rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: mormon-studies

We have so much Mormon history about the 1830-40s but so little about the growth of the church in the mid-1900s. This book is fantastic as it gives an inside view of how things unfolded in the church during the life of President McKay. Some Mormons will be uneasy because it is as free in showing the faults of the leaders as it is in showing their strengths. For me, I prefer a "warts-and-all" type of history so I loved it. I came away with a love for David O McKay.

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Oct 17, 2012 Spencer Willardson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: lds

I liked the candor of the authors in addressing parts of our church history that are sometimes difficult. President McKay is portrayed not as someone who is perfect, but as someone who always strove to do what was right. I was really fascinated by the machinations and politics that occurred among some of the church leaders, but it is a testimony to me that these men overcome their own personal pride and work together and do what they think is best for the church.

Overall I would recommend this b...more

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Dec 02, 2012 Chris rated it 5 of 5 stars

Phenomenal portrait into the life and mind of David O. McKay, and--perhaps more tantalizingly--into the sundry machinations of various factions within the Quorum of the Twelve during his leadership. The differing personalities, approaches to Church doctrine and administration, and willingness to employ questionable methods to advance personal ideology or administrative perspectives were all relatively new to me (at least at the presented level of detail). I was heartened by the progressive and e...more

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Jul 22, 2009 Tom Doggett rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: have-at-home

This was an amazing look into the inner developments of Mormon culture during President McKay's tenure. I never knew that David O. McKay was such an amazing person, but this book cemented that in my mind forever. It was interesting to see that his opinions were not always what I'd hoped them to be, especially in regards to the civil rights movement and Catholicism, but in the end that only served to make President McKay more of a real human being. The drastic changes that the Church went through...more

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David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism

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