I recently started reading 500 Little-Known Facts in Mormon History by George W. Givens while on an airplane to Washington D.C. I was enroute to visit my brother attending college at Southern Virginia University, that new, growing Mormon-affiliated university gathering steam on the east coast. Givens lives just 40 miles south of Buena Vista (home to SVU) in Lynchburg, VA, three hours west of D.C. Had I read the About the Author section in the back matter of the book, perhaps I would have stopped by Lynchburg for some hot cocoa and a chat.

Little-Known Facts is a hodge-podge of Mormon history tidbits and anecdotal shorts you can put in your Gee Whiz File; 500 such tidbits to be exact. Organized chronoligically, these interesting snippets of fact and story related to members of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, covering a 92-year period between 1813 and 1921 -- pre-First Vision to post World War II. In the books' Table of Contents, the author further divides up the 500 snippets into the following 11 subsections: (1) The Beginning (1813-1831); (2) Seeking Sanctuary (1832-1838); (3) The Nauvoo Era (1839-1846); (4) The Uprooting (1846-1847); (5) Asylum At Last (1848-1852); (6) The End of Discretion (1852-1857); (7) The End of Autonomy (1857-1861); (8) Striving For Integration (1861-1870); (9) Striving For Respect (1870-1877); (10) The Church Survives (1877-1890); (11) A New Era Begins (1891-1921).

I couldn't help but think this book would be perfect reading for those bathroom junkies (like my brother-in-law) that receive "serious literary insight" while contemplating other important matters. Let me give you an example:

A Century Early (1813)
The story of the operation on young Joseph for osteomyelitis usually revolves around Joseph's stoicism. Less mentioned is the amazing surgical procedures by one of the foremost surgeons in the country. Doctor Nathan Smith of Dartmouth Medical School was probably the only surgeon capable of such a pioneering procedures at a time when surgery was not a medical specialty. Much could be deduced about a seven-year-old future prophet from an impoverished family ending up in the hands of such a skilled medical pioneer at that time, but it is a fact that such work as he performed on young Joseph would not be successfully repeated until the early twentieth century.

I had troubling reading Little-Known Facts all the way through. In fact, I didn't read it all the way through. For me, it's not a book you pick up and read front cover to back, like a novel or other nonficiton narrative (or, if it were translated into Chinese, back cover to front). I see this book as a resource instructors could potentially use in Gospel Doctrine lessons or other Sunday School classes, as teaser questions, or engaging starter quotes. Or, as short spiritual thoughts for family home evening, though not all quotes lend themselves to spiritual purposes, many of them do. If I was fishing for an interesting story to emphasize a point in a church talk or other church presentation, I would not hesitate to pull Little-Known Facts from the shelf to supplement my material.

Givens writes in the Preface that his intention for this anthology of mini-stories was to "make Mormon history readable and interesting," and I believe he has largely done so. In his Introduction, he continues by explaining that he assumes readers already have some "familiarity with the more prominent early pioneers as well as some of the most notorious apostates." This book is probably not one that you give to your non-member neighbor who knows nothing about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; nor is it a text you'd put under the Christmas tree for your 8-year old niece or nephew. The reading level for the book is closer to a middle-grade, junior high-age student, and above. Missionaries might also find this approach to church history quick and relatively painless, depending upon their attention span and prior church history reading experience, though the book is appropriate for teens and adults of all ages. There are no pictures or graphics of any kind, other than the photo on the front cover of the book of one of the, what appears to be, original sunstones.

I found a snippet on Abraham Lincoln particularly interesting:

Lincoln and Polygamy (1857)
The Latter-day Saints had good reason perhaps to like Abraham Lincoln even before he, as President, enacted his three-word policy of 'Let them alone.' In a rebuttal to a previous speech by Stephen A. Douglas, who appeared to support the extension of slavery under the guise of popular sovereignty, Lincoln addressed a large crowd in Springfield, Illinois in 1857. 'There is nothing,' he said, 'in the United States Constitution or law against polygamy; and why is it not a part of the Judge's 'sacred right of self-government' for that people to have it, or rather to keep it, if they choose?' This did not mean Lincoln supported polygamy but merely that if popular sovereignty was desirable, the people in Utah should decide the issue.

Givens has spent over 20 years teaching American History in schools before opening what became the "largest family-owned bookstore in Virginia." Givens has authored several other church history books, including: Out of Palmyra: a Convert Looks at the Prophetic Calling of Joseph Smith; Nauvoo Fact Book: Questions and Answers for Nauvoo Enthusiasts; and, In Old Nauvoo: Everyday Life in the City of Joseph. His Little-Known Facts is obviously a biproduct of his other historical research, based on like content.

Despite typos in the Table of Contents and Preface, I was able to digest much of this collection, though the going was slow because of the abrupt nature and structure of its content. A handy References and Index allow the nibbling reader, or the focused reader, assistance with tracking down additional resources outside the text, and specific page references within it. If Little-Known Facts had been published by the New York clique, I suppose they may have re-titled this book something like: "Early Mormonism for Dummies: 500 Quick Facts;" or, "Points to Ponder While on the Potty: Early Mormonism in a Nutshell."

I'll close with this tidbit about Winston Churchill and the Mormons:

Churchill And The Saints (1910)
Twenty years after the Manifesto halting plural marriage in 1890, polygamy was still a major charge being made against the church -- especially in England. During the year 1910, eight debates took place in Parliament on the 'Mormon Problem' in which the Home Secretary, Winston Churchill was asked what he proposed to do. 'Was he aware,' a member asked, of Mormon efforts to induce English women and girls to go to America and if so was he taking steps to stop them?' Replying to the implication that it was being done for Immoral purpose, Churchill said he had determined it was not true and there was no ground for action. His reply prompted the 'Liverpool Post and Mercury' to say, 'The Home Secretary has an intelligent understanding of the situation and is friendly to the Church.'