I've now lived in Ohio longer than did some of my ancestors, who made the northeast part of the state home briefly before moving on to Missouri and from there to Illinois and elsewhere. There are two things that struck me immediately about this book: First, it's highly readable. You won't get lost in a swamp of names and dates designed to trip you up and confuse you. Second, the author proves his thesis that although the fledgling church called Ohio its headquarters only briefly, the Ohio years would be hugely significant in terms of revelation-based policies and procedures that would serve the organization into the 21st century.

The brief Ohio period would prove hugely experiential for the organization's leaders, providing them with gritty real-world experiences that would ensure their successful cross-country journey to the Great Basin.

Read this and go behind the scenes as church leaders deal with disaffections among the membership. One hapless individual concluded that the organization's leaders couldn't be inspired, since they misspelled his name in documents. Still others became disenchanted en masse because of the financial panic of 1837.

Much of this reads very nearly like a novel only because the events are riveting and the characters, in many instances, were bigger than life.