Brian Q. Cannon’s Building a Global Zion: The Life and Vision of David O. McKay is a significant and welcome addition to the biographical literature on the ninth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Despite its accessible length of just over 250 pages, the work is substantive, providing a comprehensive overview of McKay’s life while offering illuminating details on his accomplishments.

Given the existing scholarship, most notably Gregory Prince’s magisterial David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism, one might question what new ground Cannon’s biography covers. The answer, it turns out, is quite a lot. Whereas Prince’s study focuses almost exclusively on McKay’s presidential years, Cannon offers a holistic view of his entire life. This approach proves illuminating, as Cannon convincingly argues that McKay’s early full-time mission was profoundly formative, shaping his future style and trajectory. Furthermore, the detailed discussion of McKay’s long service in the Quorum of the Twelve and the First Presidency—prior to his ascension to the presidency—provides a crucial context often missing from president-centric narratives.

As the title suggests, a central organizing theme is the globalization of Mormonism, an effort McKay both participated in and, ultimately, directed. The biography compellingly features McKay’s pivotal 1920–1921 world tour as an apostle. Cannon details the extensive and perhaps underappreciated nature of this journey, including significant time in Australia, a stop in India (despite a near-zero Church presence), and formative interactions with members in Polynesian nations, particularly noting the strength of the Church among the M?ori in New Zealand at that time.

Beyond this foundational tour, Cannon highlights McKay’s often-overlooked administrative role in guiding worldwide missionary work throughout the 1930s and 1940s. He authorized and steered the expansion of missionary efforts into Central and South America and Asia. His complex involvement in the “Third Convention” schism in Mexico is also explored briefly, demonstrating his capacity to both catalyze the split through advocating hardline disciplinary action in the 1930s and later work behind the scenes for the dramatic reconciliation under George Albert Smith. Through this detailed treatment, Cannon effectively demonstrates that the “globalization of the Church” is McKay’s most enduring legacy.

A second theme, one of striking contemporary relevance, is the challenge of aging leadership. I had to chuckle a little when it talked about McKay being called into the First Presidency by Heber J. Grant because he needed younger, more vigorous men to carry the load that he was too old to handle, because he was 78 years old. (For reference, D. Todd Christofferson, as the youngest member of the First Presidency today by far, is 80 years old.) The biography then unflinchingly chronicles McKay’s own later cognitive and physical decline, which culminated in his doctors declaring him mentally incompetent. This decline created power vacuums and internal struggles, which Cannon candidly explores. These include Ezra Taft Benson’s persistent efforts to have McKay endorse the John Birch Society, and, on the other side, Hugh B. Brown’s attempts, in concert with McKay’s sons, to advance a change in the Church’s priesthood and temple ban. Cannon’s exploration of this period is both insightful and disquieting, offering a candid look at the institutional challenges of gerontocracy.

In conclusion, Brian Q. Cannon’s Building a Global Zion accomplishes far more than its modest length might suggest. It successfully situates David O. McKay within a lifelong context, arguing persuasively that his vision for a global church was not a late-life presidential project but the defining trajectory of his entire ministry. By skillfully weaving together the grand narrative of international expansion with the difficult, human realities of extended leadership and decline, Cannon provides a nuanced, essential portrait. This biography is a vital contribution, offering a critical historical perspective on two of the most significant and enduring themes in modern Latter-day Saint history: the Church’s global transformation and the institutional dynamics of its leadership.