Within These Prison Walls: Lorenzo Snow's Record Book 1886-1897

The leather-bound record book that is the focus of this unusual volume was a perfect place for Lorenzo Snow to preserve his outgoing correspondence while incarcerated in the territorial penitentiary. The record book is important for several reasons:

• It sheds much-needed light into the thoughts, personality, and life of President Lorenzo Snow. The deftness with which he puts his thoughts into verse, his vocabulary, as well as his humor and compassion, all reveal facets of his intellect and character that are unfamiliar to many Church members today.
  
• The record book is significant for its doctrinal content, particularly Elder Snow's teachings concerning the pre-earth life.
  
• It is an important primary source for students of the antipolygamy crusade. His poems and letters are invaluable in gaining an understanding of how the Saints viewed their persecutions, justified their resistance to the laws, and found the nerve to carry on despite increasingly difficult circumstances.
  
• The book also includes many fascinating photographs.