'Against the Grain' delightfully honest
Deseret News 3Jan99
By Dennis Lythgoe: Deseret News staff writer

Mormon Historian's Memoirs ('Against the Grain' delightfully honest) Deseret News 3Jan99 http://www.desnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,30003866,00.html By Dennis Lythgoe: Deseret News staff writer

University of Utah historian Brigham D. Madsen has plumbed his memory and records to produce a wonderful memoir of his 'renaissance' life, spent working as a historian, and as a carpenter, building contractor and Peace Corps volunteer.

Madsen, now 85, spent his life devoted to searching for the truth in history. He served an LDS mission to Tennessee and North Carolina and worked as historian for the Third Army in Germany during World War II. Following the war he taught for BYU for six years, but resigned "for reasons of conscience" after reading LDS history made him question Mormon doctrine. Madsen was also bothered at BYU by a low salary, "church politics," and being forced to use a church history textbook he didn't trust.

He then spent seven years building houses before teaching at Utah State University for three years, where he was awarded the Distinguished Teaching Award. But he left USU to be an administrator in the Peace Corps for three years.

When he returned, Madsen got a string of administrative appointments at the University of Utah and where he taught for another nine years, before retiring at age 66 to write history. He then produced a string of 15 highly acclaimed books in Western history, including "North to Montana."