Like nearly all of Geroge D. Smith's works, this book is intended to bring to the public historical information about the early Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints (Mormons). Also like most of his books, this tends to be sensationalistic with commentary highlighting historical records that make contemporary church officials and conservative members squirm. In the preface he states, "In fact, the limited edition of An Intimate Chronicle itself is currently held on restricted status at the LDS church library . . .", tantalizing those who are interested in the forbidden.

This is not a good first read for those interested in Church history. The book is huge, 580 pages of 10 point print (very few pictures, sorry). I had been previously interested in the book, and had I gone to Seagull to find it, the sheer size may have daunted me. Because it has a very narrow focus (everything from William Clayton's perspective), novice historians may be tempted to assume that this historical perspective is "true" to history when in fact it is no more than William Clayton's world view of the events that he witnessed. While very valuable, and in many cases that are important the only first hand account, it is important to realize that William Clayton was personally involved in these events, sometimes very passionately. To avoid this pitfall, it is imperative to read the footnotes and read other historical works.

Also, because of the political unrest at the time, many things are recorded such that the actual doctrine or event is a bit obscure. The details about peoples lives and relationships are not for those that still have idolized perspectives of the early Church leaders. They were very human and made mistakes in judgement, some pretty significant. In particular, Initially Joseph's treatment of William Law seems very harsh, although in the end William Law acted out the part that Joseph indicated he would. From our current perspective, it is hard to relate to the views of the early leaders regarding relationships between men and women, especially in a polyandrous sense. An open mind and a talent for holding unfamiliar things at a distance for inspection is important when reading this book.

The compilation was done with the assistance of many notable LDS historians, some of which enjoy positive status with the Church. The text of William Clayton's journals, extensive enough on its own, is accompanied by very substantive footnotes (perhaps 15% of the book), three appendices, and an index. On occasion, as William was preparing journal entries for other persons, when those persons chose to make entries in the journals, they are deleted from the text and moved to the footnotes, "to maintain the purity of the text." This isn't a big deal and I understand, but when I was involved in a particular event, it was distracting to have to move to the footnote to continue the narrative.

William Clayton, from the time of his conversion in England for the next 13 years kept very detailed journals of the events of the early Church. He served as personal secretary to Joseph Smith, Jr and kept journals for the Nauvoo Temple, of the trek west, the early days in the Salt Lake Valley, a three week visit to colonial southern Utah, and a mission to England in defense of polygamy. Because of his personal involvement with the early development of the temple ordinances, the leaders of the Church, polygamy, and the great migration, his records are incredibly interesting.

GD Smith uses extensive outside sources (other journals and references from other historians) in the footnotes to supplement William Clayton's perspective, both to clarify and to offset where appropriate.

I found especially interesting his view of Joseph's and Emma's relationship, the records of the early proceedings in the Nauvoo Temple, and of the personalities of the people involved in the pioneer movement. I keep trying to imagine myself and family moving back to Nauvoo with my ward or stake. Not a pretty contemplation I fear.

Recommendation: Excellent reference and source for serious historians of LDS history (and for those without a life, good reading material).

Ken Burton