David Whittaker provided probably the best work for Mormon missiology in recent years in his introduction to the sources. He wrote this in 2000, and up to that point “no one-volume study of the Mormon missionary experience” had been written. A couple of years later, Donald Cannon, et al., published “Unto Every Nation: Gospel Light Reaches Every Land.” This approximates one of the first attempts to write a comprehensive history of Mormon expansion, with the catch that it only focuses on the globalization effort of the Church. In terms of a more critical academic work, Unto Every Nation is lacking, at least in the sense that the authors do not confront some of the theoretical issues related to expansionism, and it leaves out criticism of the Mormon mission system as at all imperialist in theory or nature. Nevertheless, this book provides a useful survey of Mormon missions outside of the United States which, as Whittaker had aptly observed, was lacking in LDS scholarship as late as 2000.

I applaud the book, and wish it had a more favorable reception among the Mormon faithful. In fact, I got my copy because a Deseret Book store was clearing them out for $4. It’s understandable why the critical motifs are only lightly touched; a first-of-its-kind offering ought not be obliged to appeal to all audiences, academic included. But from here, it’d be nice to see a project that attempts to synthesize a history like this text has done as well as work in contemporary issues surrounding Christian and Mormon mission work. Maybe something like Latourette’s History of the Expansion of Christianity but for Mormonism. Alas, few scholars appear to be fully engaged in Mormon missions to make the attempt.