Item Detail
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11
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37
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0
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English
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Salamander : The Story of the Mormon Forgery Murders
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Salt Lake City
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Signature Books
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Drawing from thousands of pages of police reports, court documents, interviews, letters, and diaries, Linda Sillitoe and Allen D. Roberts unravel the disturbing secrets behind the century's most successful forger, Mark W. Hofmann. A con artist who confessed in plea bargaining to murder and fraud, Hofmann eluded exposure by leading American document authenticators, as well as FBI technicians, Library of Congress curators, historians, and polygraph experts. To date, total sales of his forgeries have amounted to more than $3 million. He created hundreds, perhaps thousands, of fraudulent manuscripts, printed documents, and currency, including letters and autographs purportedly in the hand of Betsy Ross, Daniel Boone, Mark Twain, Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Jack London, Charles Dickens, and others. It was Hofmann's lifelong struggle with Mormon origins and his own church's history that led to his most famous forgeries, including the so-called "white salamander letter." Ambitious, yet self-effacing, he was an admired and respected member of the Salt Lake City Mormon community. But in October 1985, faced with financial ruin, Hofmann attempted to stave off creditors by brutally murdering Steven F. Christensen and Kathleen W. Sheets. Hofmann's chilling confession more than a year later resulted from an elaborate plea bargain that proved to be as controversial as his most spectacular forgeries. Salamander: The Story of the Mormon Forgery Murders is a riveting account of deception, greed, and murder played out against a backdrop of religion, blind trust, and cover-up. [Author]
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A History of Dialogue, Part Four : A Tale of Two Cities, 1987-92
A History of Dialogue, Part Three : 'Coming of Age' in Utah, 1982-1987
A Stylometric Analysis of Mormon Scripture and Related Texts
Authority and Dissent in Mormonism
Blood of the Prophets : Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows
Differing Visions : Dissenters in Mormon History
Digging in Cumorah : Reclaiming Book of Mormon narratives
DNA Mormon: Perspectives on the Legacy of Historian D. Michael Quinn
Du Secret Dans Le Mormonisme
Equal Rites : The Book of Mormon, Masonry, Gender, and American Culture
Expressions of Faith : Testimonies of Latter-day Saint Scholars
From Mission to Madness : Last Son of the Mormon Prophet
From The God Makers to the Myth Maker : Simultaneous — and Lasting — Challenges to Mormonism's Reputation in the 1980s
Historicity and the Latter-day Saint Scriptures
Jan Shipps and the Mainstreaming of Mormon Studies
Jan Shipps : A Social and Intellectual Portrait
Joseph Smith and Kabbalah : The Occult Connection
Joseph Smith as Guardian : The Lawrence Estate Case
Junius and Joseph : Presidential Politics and the Assassination of the First Mormon Prophet
Leonard Arrington and the Writing of Mormon History
Mark Hofmann
Mormon Forgery : Past and Present
Mormons and Mormonism : An Introduction to an American World Religion
Moroni : Angel or Treasure Guardian?
People of Paradox : A History of Mormon Culture
Reflections on the Relationship Between Biography and History : What Val Might Have Said
Seer Stones, Salamanders, and Early Mormon "Folk Magic" in the Light of Folklore Studies and Bible Scholarship
The Angel and the Beehive : The Mormon Struggle with Assimilation
The Authenticity of the Chicago Leaves of the Original Manuscript of the Book of Mormon: A Fragmented Approach
The Lost 116 Pages : Reconstructing the Book of Mormon’s Missing Stories
The Mormon Image in the American Mind : Fifty Years of Public Perception
The Oxford Handbook of Mormonism
The Priority of Mosiah : A Prelude to Book of Mormon Exegesis
The Reluctant Metaphysicians
The Role of Reason in the Transformation of the RLDS Church into "Community of Christ": A JWHA Founder's Perspective
Walls, Windows, or Mirrors : An LDS Perception of the LDS-RLDS Boundary
Women in Utah History : Paradigm or Paradox?