Mormon convert, Mormon defector

"Mormon Convert, Mormon Defector" reveals the tumultuous 1850s in Utah and the West in vivid detail. Drawing on Scottish convert Peter McAuslan's own writings and other archival sources, Aird offers a rare interior portrait of a Mormon in whom religious enthusiasm warred with indignation at absolutist religious authorities and fear for the consequences of dissension. In so doing, Aird brings to life a dramatic but little-known period of American history.