Published in 1945, *No Man Knows My History* by **Fawn Brodie** was the first major biography to treat **Joseph Smith**, the founder of the LDS Church, as a *historical figure* — not just a prophet. Drawing from early documents, letters, and contemporary sources, Brodie portrayed Smith as a visionary, money-digger, religious innovator, and deeply flawed human being. The book was groundbreaking and deeply controversial. While the LDS Church dismissed it as anti-Mormon and eventually excommunicate