Convicting the Mormons

Janiece Johnson is lecturer at Brigham Young University.
For more information about Janiece Johnson, visit the Author Page.

“[Convicting the Mormons] explores how [the Mountain Meadows Massacre] was mobilized in arguments about the church as a whole outside of Utah. . . . Johnson asks why it is that the massacre has secured for itself such a compelling place in American memory today, and her answers are more thorough than any other work to date.”—Nova Religio

"An engaging account of the narrative people in the nineteenth century created about the Mountain Meadows Massacre and how this narrative both drew on and influenced people’s perceptions of Mormons . . . . Anyone interested in Mormon history, nineteenth century U.S. history, and religious history, will find this book to be excellent reading."—The Civil War Monitor

“Johnson’s analysis provides a useful framework for understanding the relationship between high-profile trials and media and popular cultural representations, making this book useful for legal studies and scholars of the American nineteenth-century and Mormon studies. . . . [A] welcome addition to LDS scholarship.”—Journal of the American Academy of Religion

"Johnson's authorial voice and absolute command of the primary sources make this book an indispensable resource for historians examining the aftermath and American cultural perception of Mountain Meadows."—Patrick Mason, Utah State University

"This book is fantastic! Rather than retreading the specifics of the Mountain Meadows Massacre itself, Johnson is concerned with what the event became in popular consciousness—making her study unique and refreshing. It makes a significant contribution to the fields of Mormon studies, nineteenth-century American history, and American religious studies."—Elizabeth Fenton, University of Vermont