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The Heart of Joseph is a revealing portrait, intimate and documented, of the character and soul of Joseph Smith. Across five sections and twenty-three chapters, each uncovering a distinct aspect of his character, readers discover not formal teaching, but who Joseph was, and how the way he lived became its own kind of teaching. Those who read carefully may find themselves, almost unexpectedly, seeing the hand of God and the grace of Jesus Christ woven through this remarkable man.

That discovery comes through two powerful and complementary voices. The first belongs to those who knew him: witnesses whose firsthand accounts, reminiscences, and observations surround the narrative like remembered voices at the edge of the room. The second voice is Joseph’s own. Chapters open, when possible, with his own words, then move to bold declarations, candid journal entries, and the unguarded phrases of a man thinking aloud about God, opposition, and the people he loved. Also woven throughout are every surviving letter Joseph wrote to his wife Emma: windows into his tenderness, his burdens, his loyalty, and the covenant that held even when distance and danger pressed hardest.

Organized from the external to the internal, from his commanding physical presence and indomitable strength, to his gifts, his playfulness, his friendships, his generosity, and finally his higher eternal calling, the book follows what scholar Truman G. Madsen described as a man “physically, intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually, a living human multitude.” Readers meet a man who challenged ministers to jumping contests after besting them in scripture, who stooped in a muddy street to clean the shoes of two frightened children, who wept in prayer for those who had turned against him, and who gave of himself (coat, cane, time, and ultimately life) without reservation.

His life was the lesson. This book is for the believing reader, the curious reader, and the honest skeptic, for those who want to move past the arguments about Joseph Smith and sit with the man himself: his words, his heart, his character, and his covenant.