Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith

By Jon Krakauer

Stars: and a half

Dammit I seem to give everything three stars, implying that I lack any sense of taste and discrimination. Who am I, Roger Ebert? Anyway I just finished this book off in three days, and can't think of anything to say about it that wouldn't violate one of the prime directives of tiny dog, which is thou shall not be politically offensive.

Before I continue I would like to recommend Jon Krakauer's other books to anyone looking for interesting non-fiction, those titles being Into the Wild, and Into Thin Air.

Without intent to affront the varied belief systems of the vast audience of tiny dog, tiny dog herself will admit to a complete lack of belief in organized religious principles (to create a frame of reference for this review). Under the Banner of Heaven is essentially a short history of the Mormon faith, with a focus on those practitioners of Mormonism who have committed crimes as compelled by the voice of god himself. Written by a non-Mormon and focusing on criminal acts, this surely mustn't be a flattering account of the faith or its founders, however not having read any other account, I wouldn't know for sure.

This is probably the first book about religious history that I have ever read, being that I am profoundly disinterested in religion generally. What struck me about the book, however, is that the history of Mormonism is actually a very interesting piece of 19th century American history generally, featuring the violence, racism, religious hypocrisy, megalomania, genocide, sexism, and greed that are usually a part of all historical narratives when rendered in accurate detail. It's no wonder that we receive such a glib overview of history in school, because any real exposure to the true details would make sober, skeptical misanthropes of otherwise servicable flag-waving Americans.

Anyhow, this book, in the end, is more informational than lurid, for those seeking true crime titilation there are surely titles out there that cut to the chase more readily. I'd recommend it to those inclined to be skeptical of organized religion, and/or those interested in lesser known scandalous details of 19th century American history, although Jon Krakauer has a way of making interesting subjects of no interest to the reader, for example, Into Thin Air, a very fascinating book about what I consider to be probably one of the world's most inexplicable subjects, mountain climbing, a pastime characterized by immense financial waste, tedium, illness, painful exertion, and sometimes death.

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