Really fascinating history of the Mormon church. Although it tells the story of a violent crime taking place among a modern polygamist offshoot of the LDS, Krakauer goes into the (often violent) history of the Mormon church, and why the polygamous fundamentalists who are still around are not quite so removed from their mainstream brethren as the LDS would like to claim. Nonetheless, this is not a Mormon-bashing book. Nowhere does Krakauer treat the Mormon faith itself with disrespect. He also describes the persecution Mormons have faced, and individuals in the story, both modern and historical, are treated with great sympathy.