The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple

Bare-Faced Messiah: The True Story Of L. Ron Hubbard

Russell Miller · 390 pages

The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper

Tony Ortega · 404 pages

Under the direction of its malignant creator, L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology developed an intelligence agency second only to the infamous KGB in its infiltration of western government agencies. The Guardian’s Office was a formidable and fanatical organization, which campaigned relentlessly to protect Hubbard from prosecution and successfully dissuaded or ruined most of Scientology’s critics. Paulette

Raven: The Untold Story of the Rev. Jim Jones and His People

Tim Reiterman · 623 pages

Tim Reiterman’s *Raven* provides the seminal history of the Rev. Jim Jones, the Peoples Temple, and the murderous ordeal at Jonestown in 1978. This PEN Award–winning work explores the ideals-gone-wrong, the intrigue, and the grim realities behind the Peoples Temple and its implosion in the jungle of South America. Reiterman’s reportage clarifies enduring misperceptions of the character and moti

Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me

Ron Miscavige, Dan Koon · 256 pages

"David Miscavige, the Church of Scientology's current leader and successor to founder L. Ron Hubbard, hasn't always ruled with an iron fist. It was his father, Ron Miscavige, who first introduced his family to Scientology, and David embraced it immediately, even as young boy. Years later, Ron could only watch with dismay as his bright, carefree son transformed into the leader he is today. Ruthless

Blown for Good: Behind the Iron Curtain of Scientology

Marc Headley · 389 pages

The author details the horrors of his slave-like existence as a captive Scientologist whose parents were in the organization and who was forced to attend Scientology schools, do Scientology course work, and who, out of desperation, joined the sea-org at fifteen. The punitive, coercive, and sadistic nature of the organization and the horrors he lived through are vividly told in a chilling, conversa

Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons

George Pendle · 368 pages

A lonely misfit born into a wealthy Pasadena family, as a boy Parsons read science fiction and launched rockets in his backyard. By his early twenties, he was a leader of Caltech's "Suicide Squad," the motley band of young enthusiasts who founded the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. But his visionary imagination also led him into the occult community thriving in 1930s Los Angeles, and when fantasy's pul

I Fired God: My Life Inside - and Escape from - the Secret World of the Independent Fundamental Baptist Cult

Jocelyn R. Zichterman

This book is a compelling memoir and investigation into the Independent Fundamental Baptist church and its shocking history of religious abuse. Jocelyn Zichterman was born, raised, married into, and finally, with her family, fled the Independent Fundamental Baptist church. Founded by the fiery preacher Bob Jones, with several hundred thousand, IFB members are told they must not associate with memb

The Church of Fear: Inside the Weird World of Scientology

John Sweeney · 368 pages

Sweeney tells the full story of his experiences for the first time and paints a devastating picture of this strange organisation, from former Scientologists who tell heartbreaking stories of families torn apart and lives ruined to its current followers who say it is the solution to many of mankind's problems.

Prophet's Prey: My Seven-Year Investigation into Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints

Sam Brower · 323 pages

From the private investigator who cracked open the case that led to the arrest of Warren Jeffs, the maniacal prophet of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), comes the page-turning, horrifying story of how a rogue sect used sex, money, and power disguised under a fac Œade of religion to further criminal activities and a madman's vision.

Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief

Lawrence Wright · 448 pages

"Based on more than two hundred personal interviews with both current and former Scientologists--both famous and less well known--and years of archival research, Lawrence Wright uses his extraordinary investigative skills to uncover for us the inner workings of the Church of Scientology: its origins in the imagination of science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard; its struggles to find acceptance as a

Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape

Jenna Miscavige Hill, Lisa Pulitzer · 416 pages

Jenna Miscavige Hill was raised to obey. As the niece of the Church of Scientology's leader David Miscavige, she grew up at the center of this highly controversial and powerful organization. But at twenty-one, Jenna made a daring break, risking everything she had ever known and loved to leave Scientology once and for all. Now she speaks out about her life, the Church, and her dramatic escape, goin

Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion

Janet Reitman · 464 pages

Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion, is based on confidential documents, more than 100 interviews with current and former Scientologists, and five years of research. This book confirms the astonishing truth within the controversial religion. Scientology conjures images of its celebrity believers, its notably aggressive response to criticism or its attacks on psychiat

A Thousand Lives

Julia Scheeres · 321 pages

In 1954, a pastor named Jim Jones opened a church in Indianapolis called Peoples Temple Full Gospel Church. He was a charismatic preacher with idealistic beliefs, and he quickly filled his pews with an audience eager to hear his sermons on social justice. As Jones's behavior became erratic and his message more ominous, his followers leaned on each other to recapture the sense of equality that had

Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith

Jon Krakauer · 399 pages

Jon Krakauer's literary reputation rests on insightful chronicles of lives conducted at the outer limits. In UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN, he shifts his focus from extremes of physical adventure to extremes of religious belief within our own borders. At the core of his book is an appalling double murder committed by two Mormon fundamentalist brothers, Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they receive

Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders

Vincent Bugliosi, Curt Gentry · 676 pages

Prosecuting attorney in the Manson trial, Vincent Bugliosi held a unique insider's position in one of the most baffling and horrifying cases of the twentieth century: the cold-blooded Tate-LaBianca murders carried out by Charles Manson and four of his followers. What motivated Manson in his seemingly mindless selection of victims, and what was his hold over the young women who obeyed his orders? H

Seductive Poison: A Jonestown Survivor's Story of Life and Death in the Peoples Temple

Deborah Layton · 309 pages

From Waco to Heaven's Gate, the past decade has seen its share of cult tragedies. But none has been quite so dramatic or compelling as the Jonestown massacre, in which the Reverend Jim Jones and 913 of his disciples of the Peoples Temple perished. In Seductive Poison, Deborah Layton writes about the Peoples Temple as it has never been written about before: with the keen hindsight and insider persp

The Family: The Story of Charles Manson's Dune Buggy Attack Battalion

Ed Sanders · 415 pages

"Ed Sanders gained access to every material witness to the Tate-LaBianca murders. He corresponded with Manson and visited the family many times in their quarters at the Spahn Ranch, and in Inyo County and Death Valley, their desert hideaways. He interviewed members of motorcycle gangs whose paths crossed that of Manson and his family. He covered the trial for the Los Angeles Free Press and develo

Pilgrim's Wilderness: A True Story of Faith and Madness on the Alaska Frontier

Tom Kizzia · 322 pages

Documents the story of Robert "Papa Pilgrim" Hale and the antiestablishment family settlement in remote Alaska that was exposed as a cult-like prison where Hale brutalized and isolated his wife and fifteen children.

Cartwheels in a Sari: A Memoir of Growing Up Cult

Jayanti Tamm · 288 pages

In this colorful, eye-opening memoir, Jayanti Tamm offers an unforgettable glimpse into the hidden world of growing up "cult" in mainstream America. Through Jayanti's fascinating story--the first book to chronicle Sri Chinmoy--she unmasks a leader who convinces thousands of disciples to follow him, scores of nations to dedicate monuments to him, and throngs of celebrities (Sting, Pope John Paul II

Cult Insanity: A Memoir of Polygamy, Prophets, and Blood Atonement

Irene Spencer

Life for Irene Spencer was a series of devastating disappointments and hardships. Irene's first book, Shattered Dreams, is the staggering chronicle of herstruggle to provide for her children in abject poverty and feelings of abandonment each time her husband left to be with one of his other wives. Irene was raised to believe polygamy was the way of life necessary for her ticket to heaven. The har

His Favorite Wife: Trapped in Polygamy

Susan Ray Schmidt · 445 pages

Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche

Haruki Murakami · 366 pages

Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs

Elissa Wall, Lisa Pulitzer · 438 pages

In September 2007, a packed courtroom in St. George, Utah, sat hushed as Elissa Wall, the star witness against polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs, gave captivating testimony of how Jeffs forced her to marry her first cousin at age fourteen. This harrowing and vivid account proved to be the most compelling evidence against Jeffs, showing the harsh realities of this closed community and the lengths

Triumph: Life After the Cult--A Survivor's Lessons

Carolyn Jessop, Laura Palmer · 279 pages