"Liberty to the Downtrodden"

"With graceful prose and mastery of the primary sources, Matthew J. Grow illuminates the story of Thomas L. Kane, one of the most complex and intense social reformers to hurdle into the wilderness of the American West. Grow's superb account of Kane's messianic mission to mediate the Utah War of 1857-58 alone warrants acquiring 'Liberty to the Downtrodden.'"—Howard R. Lamar, editor of The New Encyclopedia of the American West

~Howard R. Lamar

"Using the vast new trove of Kane materials, Matthew Grow offers a compelling full-length portrait of this entrancing figure."—Richard Lyman Bushman, Columbia University

~Richard Lyman Bushman

"This is an important book not simply from the perspective of Mormon history but also because it opens to view the extraordinary length and breadth of reform in 19th-century America."—Jan Shipps, Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis

~Jan Shipps

"This is an engrossing tale of an independent nineteenth-century reformer. It places our understanding of the relationship among party politics, reform, and evangelical impulses in a refreshing new light."—Laurie F. Maffly-Kipp, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

~Laurie F. Maffly-Kipp

"[A] detailed and solidly documented book..."Liberty to the Downtrodden" accomplishes something Thomas Kane failed to do. It rescues him from obscurity and irellevance."--Tandy McConnell, Church History

~Tandy McConnell, Church History