The first chapter is now available. Believe it or not, it all starts with a volcano in Indonesia.
More information on this four-volume Church history here.
A new, four-volume comprehensive history of the Church to be published beginning next year was detailed by Elder Steven E. Snow, the Church Historian and Recorder, in his luncheon address Saturday, June 3, to attendees at the 52nd annual Mormon History Association Conference.
“It has been almost 90 years since B. H. Roberts published the last comprehensive history of the Church,” said Elder Snow, General Authority Seventy. “Obviously much has happened since 1930. We have a team in our department working very hard to complete a four-volume history of the Church entitled Saints. It will be written in a style similar to James Michener or David McCullough.”
Elder Snow gave the information during his address titled “‘A Greater Work Will be Done’: The Evolution of the LDS Church History Department.”
The new history will have many narratives woven into it from before Joseph Smith’s First Vision to the present day, Elder Snow explained.
The first volume will cover the history of the Church up to the Nauvoo Temple dedication. The second will cover the western exodus of the Latter-day Saints and conclude with the Salt Lake Temple dedication. The third will cover the first half of the 20th century and conclude with the dedication of the Swiss Temple.
“The fourth and final volume will bring us to today and will cover some of the many temples which are being dedicated around the world,” Elder Snow said.
The plan is to publish the volumes at the rate of one per year from 2018 to 2021.