The Mountain of Names

The book is divided into two main parts. The first part takes a look at the "family of man" from a sociological, anthropological, historical, and every other point of view it seems. Mr Shoumatoff is the consumate renaissance man the way he blends all these facets. The second part is a capsule history of the Mormon Church and even though it sort of exposes some things, I found it fair and even handed. As a genealogist interested in more than just putting names and dates on a pedigree chart, I highly recommend this book. This book was preceded by an article of the same name in New Yorker magazine in 1985, and went on to become a bestseller in expanded book form