John G. Turner

Role

Historian and Author

Affiliation

Yale University Press

Bio Notes

Historian and author of 'Joseph Smith: The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet' (Yale University Press, 2025). Draws on newly accessible Joseph Smith Papers. Frames Smith as a relentless religious innovator comparable to Edison, Bell, and the Wright brothers, while documenting that Smith built a city, raised a militia, opened a bank, owned a store, managed landholdings, and ultimately ran for president.