Stretching the Heavens

“A moving portrait of Eugene England’s charismatic public persona and the internal striving soul that produced it… . [This biography] provides readers a more comprehensive understanding of England as a person who is at once bright and energetic, as well as peculiar and conflicted, caught in the crossfire of an equally peculiar cultural moment in a conflicted religious history.”–Mormon Studies Review”[Stretching the Heavens] comes alive in its penetrating detail… . This is a remarkable biography.“–BYU Studies Quarterly”[A] carefully written biography … [that] paints an honest portrait of an important figure in the founding of Mormon studies.” –CHOICE“A powerful exploration of how England maintained, on the one hand, devout loyalty to and genuine belief in the institutional church and, on the other hand, an indefatigable commitment to investigation and autonomy.”–Benjamin Park, By Common Consent“Provides[s] insight into late-twentieth century Mormonism.”–Journal of Mormon History“Revealing, detailed … a solid biography that will illuminate key trends and moments in LDS history for scholars and general readers alike.”–Publishers Weekly“Stretching the Heavens pays tribute to a remarkable scholar and writer, and to a new openness on the part of the institutional church and its culture. It’s an important contribution in understanding the environment in which the church and its members continue to operate and introduces a powerful voice to new generations of aspiring scholars and members at a dynamic time in the church’s history.”–Association for Mormon Letters“This book is more than a mere biography, but an introduction to important debates within the Mormon tradition… . [Givens’ work] is relevant for anyone dealing with the Morman tradition, but it might also be enriching for anyone interested more generally in the transformational processes all religious traditions had (and still have) to go through in the last two centuries.”–New Mexico Historical Review

Terryl Givens is Neal L. Maxwell Senior Fellow at Brigham Young University and Jabez A. Bostwick Professor of English Emeritus at the University of Richmond. Among his books are Wrestling the Angel and Feeding the Flock.