One of the most difficult issues in LDS history
of that of polygamy, especially Joseph Smith’s practice thereof.
Recently, four excellent volumes have been published
on this issue—a three-volume set by Brian C. Hales, Joseph Smith’s Polygamy
(SLC: Greg Kofford Books, 2013) (vols. 1 and 2 deal with history; vol.3 deals
with theology) and The Persistence of Polygamy: Joseph Smith and the Origins
of Mormon Polygamy (John Whitmer Books, 2010), edited by Newell Bringhurst
and my friend, Craig Foster. They are highly recommended and deal with all the difficult issues, such as Fanny Alger and polyandry. Of course, on any topic dealing with the Prophet Joseph Smith, Richard L. Bushman's biography, Joseph Smith, Rough Stone Rolling: A Cultural Biography of Mormonism's Founder (Knopf, 2005) is a must-read too, as it is the best biography of Joseph Smith, warts-and-all.
BTW: Brian Hales and his wife run a great Website with a number of important papers. The URL is http://josephsmithspolygamy.org/
BTW: Brian Hales and his wife run a great Website with a number of important papers. The URL is http://josephsmithspolygamy.org/