The year-long fact-finding mission of apostle David O. McKay and his traveling companion Hugh J. Cannon to places historian Leonard J. Arrington has called the "geographic and organizational periphery" of Mormondom was one of the most significant moments of the twentieth century for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While the contemporary LDS church has grown to become a global presence, the early decades of the last century found missionaries struggling to gain converts abroad. Cannon's rich and vivid account of his and McKay's 61,646-mile around-the-world journey illustrates the roots of Mormonism's globalization. The account is without doubt one of the more significant texts in the historical cannon of global Mormon studies.

Reid L Neilson annotates Cannon's account, enriching the experience for scholarly and lay readers alike. Ancillary material, including the transcripts of Cannon's letters to the "Deseret News "detailing the journey, the complete text of Cannon's original journals (available for the first time ever), a collection of 60 photographs, maps, and illustrations culled from McKay's own collection, as well as comprehensive lists of names and places, will be available digitally.