Best First Book Award, Mormon History Association, 2015. Smith-Pettit Best Book Award, John Whitmer Historical Association, 2015. "Kirtland Temple is a thought-provoking, informative, and path-breaking study that opens up a significant new topic in Mormon history. David Howlett is among the ablest and most accomplished younger scholars of Mormon history today. In Kirtland Temple, he has produced a ... Read morethoroughly researched and thoughtfully nuanced
yet also highly readable
analytical narrative about a much-contested Mormon sacred site during more than a century and a half. This study has given me more insight into the complex and divergent development of the two main branches of the Mormon movement than any other book I have read."
Lawrence Foster, author of Religion and Sexuality: The Shakers, the Mormons, and the Oneida Community "Very well written and interesting. . . . it raises issues that will be as relevant 100 years from now as they are today—specifically, the relationship between sacred space, violence, and religious pluralism. . . . Ultimately, this may be the most important book about the Mormon experience as a whole that will be written in 2014."
The Association of Mormon Letters "Howlett's concept of parallel pilgrimage is the star of this book, a useful tool that will hopefully be applied to other pilgrimage sites.  An excellent source for scholars of American religion, ritual studies, and inter-religious dialogue."
Novo Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions "Howlett's biography of the temple lays the essential by bringing forward all the critical data for review. He opens many new avenues of study and starts a significant and fruitful dialogue about the temple and contestation of sacred space. David Howlett's book makes a significant contribution to the cause of Mormon history and is essential reading for those interested in the history of Kirtland and its temple."
Journal of Mormon History "If visitors to the Kirtland Temple were to read Howlett's book, they would have a greater appreciation of the space they were encountering. . . . he has presented a framework within which a better understanding of the Kirtland Temple can occur from the perspectives of various Mormon belief systems."
BYU Studies Quarterly "If visitors to the Kirtland Temple were to read Howlett's book, they would have a greater appreciation of the space they were encountering. . . . he has presented a framework within which a better understanding of the Kirtland Temple can occur from the perspectives of various Mormon belief systems."
BYU Studies Quarterly "[Kirkland Temple] makes several important contributions to Mormon history."
Journal of American History "Howlett's biography of the temple lays the essential by bringing forward all the critical data for review. He opens many new avenues of study and starts a significant and fruitful dialogue about the temple and contestation of sacred space. David Howlett's book makes a significant contribution to the cause of Mormon history and is essential reading for those interested in the history of Kirtland and its temple."
Journal of Mormon History "Overall, this is a fascinating and informative study of the Kirtland Temple that unveils the complex histories of various factional descendants of Joseph Smith's nineteenth-century religious movement. . . . Howlett's work makes exceptional contributions in American religious history and specifically Mormon history."
Thomas Bremer, author of Blessed with Tourists: The Borderlands of Religion and Tourism in San Antonio Show Less