Devil's Gate: Brigham Young and the Great Mormon Handcart Tragedy

The revelatory story, now in paperback, of the worst disaster in the history of the Western migrations—and how Brigham Young made it a parable of the indomitable Mormon spirit.

• Dramatic re-telling of a terrible but little-known tragedy: In 1856, 220 Mormons traveling west to Utah, pushing and pulling their belongings in handcarts, died of malnutrition and hypothermia. Roberts draws on contemporary letters and diaries to re-create the drama and suffering.

• A powerful indictment of Brigh...