Synopses & Reviews
The year-long fact-finding mission of apostle David O. McKay and his traveling companion Hugh J. Cannon to places historian Leonard J. Arrington has called the "geographic and organizational periphery" of Mormondom was one of the most significant moments of the twentieth century for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While the contemporary LDS church has grown to become a global presence, the early decades of the last century found missionaries struggling to gain converts abroad. Cannon's rich and vivid account of his and McKay's 61,646-mile around-the-world journey illustrates the roots of Mormonism's globalization. The account is without doubt one of the more significant texts in the historical cannon of global Mormon studies.
Reid L Neilson annotates Cannon's account, enriching the experience for scholarly and lay readers alike. Ancillary material, including the transcripts of Cannon's letters to the Deseret News detailing the journey, the complete text of Cannon's original journals (available for the first time ever), a collection of 60 photographs, maps, and illustrations culled from McKay's own collection, as well as comprehensive lists of names and places, will be available digitally.
Review
“Anyone interested in David O. McKay must be interested in this journey.”—James B. Allen, Brigham Young University
Review
"An exciting history of a remarkable, and somewhat forgotten, journey undertaken at a time when most of the world considered Latter-day Saints to be a solely American institution."
—Deseret NewsReview
"Neilson's careful annotations clarify names, terms, and places along the journey, making the story easy for any reader to follow. Neilson further enriches the McKay-Cannon journey by including a photographic essay consisting of fifty-four images, both photographs and postcards, that visually document the journey."—BYU Studies Quarterly
Synopsis
The first scholarly annotation of Mormon apostle David O. McKay's around-the-world journey.
About the Author
Hugh J. Cannon (1870-1931) was traveling companion to apostle David O. McKay from 1920 to 1921. Reid L. Neilson is an assistant professor of church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University. He is the author of Proclamation to the People: Nineteenth-Century Mormonism and the Pacific Basin Frontier.
Table of Contents
Editor’s Preface
Introduction: Around-the-World with Elder David O. McKay and Hugh J. Cannon by Reid Neilson
Photo Essay
1. Accepting the Apostolic Call
2. Crossing the Pacific Ocean
3. Arriving in the Islands of Japan
4. Touring the Japan Mission
5. Dedicating the Chinese Realm
6. Exploring the Interior of China
7. Visiting Oahu and Maui
8. Calling on Hawaii and Kauai
9. Steaming the South Pacific
10. Staying in the Society Islands
11. Sightseeing in Rarotonga
12. Discovering New Zealand
13. Meandering through Melanesia
14. Stopping over in Western Samoa
15. Resting in American Samoa
16. Surveying Sauniatu
17. Observing in Tonga
18. Returning to New Zealand
19. Inspecting Australia
20. Traveling up the Malay Peninsula