Eight or nine months before his death in September 1933 at the age of seventy-six, Brigham H. Roberts began the bittersweet task of composing his autobiography. Known variously as "biographical notes" and "Life Story" Roberts's memoirs span the breadth of his life from the late 1850s as a neglected child in Dickensian England to post-World War I Utah as a respected, outspoken official of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Roberts's episodic autobiography emphasizes his adventures in pioneer Utah, his missions for the LDS church, his career in partisan politics (including his opposition to women's suffrage and to prohibition), his bid for the United States House of Representatives (from which he was barred for polygamy), and his activities as one of seven presidents of the First Quorum of Seventy of the LDS church.

Only briefly does Roberts broach his marriages and family life; the historical and theological writings for which he had become well known such as his Comprehensive History of the Church; or the last fifteen or so years of his life. He does not mention his appointment as a chaplain in France during World War 1; his controversial study of the origin of the Book of Mormon; his unpublished theological magnum opus, "The Truth, The Way, The Life"; his treatises on Joseph Smith: Prophet, Teacher, The Mormon Doctrine of Deity, Defense of the Faith and the Saints, or Succession in the Presidency; or his numerous disagreements with ecclesiastical colleagues over politics and church doctrine. As Roberts approached more contemporary events perhaps he was unwilling to be as revealing as he had been in recounting earlier experiences; perhaps the job of dictating his life story was simply too much of a strain for a man already suffering the debilitating effects of diabetes, depression, and old age.

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At least two versions of B. H. Roberts's autobiography exist. The first he dictated to his secretary Elsa Cook, beginning either in December 1932 or January 1933 and continuing for three or four months, and is some 473 double-spaced typewritten pages long. The second is a copy of the original subsequently made by his daughter, Georgia Roberts Livingston, and is 237 single-spaced typewritten pages long. Both versions are currently housed in the B. H. Roberts Papers at the Marriott Library, University of Utah, although the library's copy of the original manuscript is incomplete. Both previously unpublished versions have been used in preparing the present edition for publication.