User:Hydrangeans/draft of American Zion: A New History of Mormonism

American Zion: A New History of Mormonism is a nonfiction book written by historian Benjamin E. Park. Published in 2024 by Liveright, an imprint of W. W. Norton & Company, it tells the history of Mormonism in the United States context. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and adherents to Mormonism within its fold are the predominant focus; the book interpolates references to the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (later renamed to Community of Christ). []

Background
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Content
American Zion 's historical narrative spans from 1775 to the twenty-first century, told in ten chapters that each span approximately 20 years.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) is the overall focus of American Zion.

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The New Yorker summarizes American Zion 's depiction of the LDS Church as "a picture of the institution as one that is both marginalized and marginalizing".

"The most American thing about the Mormons" in Park's portrayal, according to reviewer Dan Piepenbring, "might be their sense that every aspect of the country is at once too American and not American enough:: their desire to stand apart and to belong".

Publication
Liveright, an imprint of W. W. Norton, published American Zion on January 16, 2024. It sold for $35 on release. The book appeared in hardcover and in paperback. It is 512 pages long.

Reception
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In a starred review, Library Journal called American Zion a "book about Mormonism that will stand the test of time" and predicted that "[g]eneral readers should be riveted by a story well told; scholars will be engaged by arguments worth debating".