A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Hope, Deception, and Survival at Jonestown by Julia ScheeresMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed Jesus Land: A Memoir, so I had no trouble committing go this extensive Jim Jones/People's Temple biography. I really though there was nothing significant and new to tell, but Scheeres bases here book on the FBI's official release of documents in 2014 and 2009 including audio from the about 1000 tapes recovered. Much of this can be found online, I see, but Scheeres has put together a coherent tale from Indiana preacher to megalomaniac to instigator of mass suicide. It is hard to believe so many were taken in to this extent -- including suicide or being murdered -- by a man high and drunk and cruel and hypocritical to such an extent. The facts are all here, but the "how" may remain forever inexplicable.
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