 Vogel was awarded the Best Book award in September 2004 by the John Whitmer Historical Association and the Turner-Bergera Best Biography award by the Mormon History Association in May 2005 for his biography "".Vogel argues in the biography that Joseph Smith was a pious fraud—that Smith essentially invented his religious claims for what he believed were noble, faith-promoting purposes.Vogel identifies the roots of the pious fraud in the conflict between members of the Smith family, who were divided between the skepticism and universalism of Joseph Smith, Sr., and the more mainstream Protestant faith of Lucy Mack Smith.