Eugene England (1933-2001) -- one of the most influential and
controversial intellectuals in modern Mormonism -- lived in the
crossfire between religious tradition and reform. This first serious
biography, by leading historian Terryl L. Givens, shimmers with the
personal tensions felt deeply by England during the turmoil of the late
20th century. Drawing on unprecedented access to England's personal
papers, Givens paints a multifaceted portrait of a devout Latter-day
Saint whose precarious position on the edge of church hierarchy was
instrumental to his ability to shape the study of modern Mormonism.
A professor of literature at Brigham Young University, England also
taught in the Church Educational System. And yet from the '60s on, he
set church leaders' teeth on edge as he protested the Vietnam War,
decried institutional racism and sexism, and supported Poland's
Solidarity movement -- all at a time when Latter-day Saints were
ultra-patriotic and banned Black ordination. England could also be
intemperate, proud of his own rectitude, and neglectful of political
realities and relationships, and he was eventually forced from his
academic position. His last days, as he suffered from brain cancer, were
marked by a spiritual agony that church leaders were unable to help him
resolve.
