LDS Church leaders have always maintained Smith translated the book from an ancient record delivered to him by an angel.

Other award recipients included Kathleen Flake, a professor of American religious history at Vanderbilt University's divinity school, for her work, "The Politics of American Religious Identity: The Seating of Senator Reed Smoot, Mormon Apostle." Best documentary went to John Sillito, curator of Special Collections at Weber State University, for his book, "History's Apprentice: The Diaries of B.H. Roberts."

Best first book recognition went to Val D. Rust, professor of social sciences at the University of California-Los Angeles for his work, "Radical Origins: Early Mormon Converts and Their Colonial Ancestors."

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