Richard Lyman Bushman: A Mormon Ambassador, by J.B. Haws, University of Illinois Press, 2026, is a brief but detailed look at the most celebrated Mormon intellectual of arguably the past three generations. It's another addition to the Illinois Press' Introductions to Mormon Thought Series.
This is a book better for those who already know much about Bushman, and his wife Claudia, and a lifetime of contribution to Mormon scholarship. Richard Lyman Bushman is perhaps best known for his biography of the LDS Prophet Joseph Smith Jr., Rough Stone Rolling. It was a best seller, the occasional academic work that appealed to both the intelligentsia and the rest of us, like the author of this review.
Rough Stone Rolling is the best of three prominent Smith biographies, the others being Fawn Brodie's No Man Knows My History, and John G. Turner's more recent Joseph Smith: The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet. As ... a Mormon Ambassador notes, Bushman uses a heuristic approach to his historical research, which is a particular respect for the beliefs and culture of the individuals and groups that are his subjects.
This is expressed in Rough Stone Rolling, where Bushman assumes, within his writing, that Smith had experienced the claims he made in his life. This underscores another rule of Bushman's scholarship; that the spiritual and the historical are compatible; that a subject can boost a person's belief in both religion, and secular spheres.
This heuristic approach does not leave us with a hagiography. Smith, and other subjects, are appropriately explored in detail, weaknesses as well as strengths. J.B. Haws does an excellent job detailing the life of his subject, and the varying fears and successes through his 90-plus years.
Despite the slim 144-page volume, there is a concise overview of Bushman's life, his growth in the Church, his LDS mission, his rise through academia, and his large collection of scholarship. I enjoyed reading about how the national press sought his insights during the "Mormon Moment" a generation ago, when Mitt Romney made two attempts to win the U.S. presidency.
I'll end this short review urging readers to more detail by reading the book, perhaps on a long Sunday afternoon after church services.
-- Doug Gibson
