content: What a wonderful way to get to know the prophet, Joseph Smith... in his own time and place. Starting with brief biographies of his parents and their families and ending with his death, this book is comprehensive yet reader-friendly. To begin to understand a person fully, you have to understand where they came from. This book really helped me to get to know Joseph in his own time period and place; within his own familial and cultural background. As a believing LDS member, I appreciated the openness and direct manner the author used in addressing the more controversial issues. A must read by anyone looking for a balanced (well, as balanced as possible given the enigmatic source material... people either loved or hated him so it's hard to find any non-biased original sources) study into the life of one of the US's most controversial characters.