Books that share history of the Latter-day Saints

Here is a list of about a dozen books — both fiction and nonfiction — about different aspects of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' history.

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"ZION's TRUMPET: 1850 Welsh Mormon Periodical," by Ronald D. Dennis, BYU Religious Studies Center, $24.99, 346 pages (nf)

Many Latter-day Saints are familiar with the charge early Mormon missionaries received to carry the their teachings to the British Isles. Several periodicals emerged from such proselyting efforts. A periodical that includes news to the early Saints in Wales in 1850 through "Zion's Trumpet," a periodical operated by Welsh convert John S. Davis and compiled today by author Ronald Dennis. This volume is a companion to the 1849 "Zion's Trumpet" collection published in 2001.

Davis' work at the helm of the publication filled a void left by Dan Jones, who took 300 Welsh Mormon converts to America. Davis was appointed after having assisted Jones for 2 1/2 years in the publication of various pamphlets, a hymnal, a 288-page scriptural commentary and the monthly periodical "Prophet of the Jubilee," part of a publication that ran 12 times in 1849 and 28 times in 1850. Some of the more appealing parts of the volume are the occasional proverbs, poetry and humor dispersed among the hard LDS Church news. In many ways, they recall thoughts to the "Instant Messages" of the New Era or the reader submissions to the Ensign

Among the intriguing reads involves the letters from the early brethren, including President John Taylor, the third president of the LDS Church. If the church is continuing to "bring it(self) forth out of obscurity and out of darkness" in our modern day, then these brethren were writing from the perspective of a small sparkler trying to be seen in an otherwise large fireworks show.The epistles echo those written by Paul and other apostles of the primitive church in the New Testament, but they have their own unique voice in speaking of the challenge of being recognized by other people and nations.