Bias

Fawn M. Brodie admits from the opening that she does not accept Joseph Smith as a Prophet of God. She openly attempts to prove that he was a false prophet with a wild imagination who has duped millions of believers. She maligns Joseph, his family, friends, and church at every opportunity. She accepted admittedly falsely written affidavits, as truth when it met her needs, particularly in relation to his reputation and his nature.

Ms. Brodie denied the statement made by Joseph that "my telling the story had excited a great deal of prejudice against me among professors of religion, and was the cause of great persecution, which continued to increase; and though I was an obscure boy, only between fourteen and fifteen years of age, and my circumstances in life such as to make boy of no consequence in the world, yet men of high standing would take...