Polygamy Week Book Review: Under the Banner of Heaven

Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In 1984, Ron and Dan Lafferty brutally murdered their younger brother Allen’s wife and baby girl saying that they were acting on orders from God. Ron and Dan are Mormon Fundamentalists, a breakaway sect that still practices polygamy and holds other unorthodox beliefs not sanctioned by the mainstream Mormon church.

In Under the Banner of Heaven, Krakauer delves into the minds of the Lafferty brothers and what led them to commit such a heinous crime. In addition, he interweaves the history of the Mormon church throughout the book, alternating between that and the Lafferty brothers and other modern day Mormon Fundamentalist’s stories.

Krakauer traces the history of how Mormon Fundamentalism came to be starting at the beginning with Joseph Smith founding the mainstream Mormon church. I really appreciated learning about the beginnings of the LDS faith and why the Fundamentalists split from the mainstream church. Having this detailed background information helped me to understand better what beliefs the Fundamentalists hold and why.

Krakauer is equally thorough in his examination of modern day Fundamentalism and the Lafferty brothers. He also discusses other contemporary Mormon Fundamentalists like Warren Jeffs and Brian David Mitchell, the man who kidnapped Elizabeth Smart.

This book is a great combination of true crime and history. It’s a wonderful primer on the history of the Mormon church and the status of Mormon Fundamentalism in today’s world.

Buy this book at:
Amazon Kindle Store Powell’s Books

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