This extraordinary work of investigative journalism takes readers inside America’s isolated Mormon Fundamentalist communities; where some 40;000 people still practice polygamy. Defying both civil authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City; the renegade leaders of these Taliban-like theocracies are zealots who answer only to God. At the core of Krakauer’s book are brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty; who insist they received a commandment from God to kill a blameless woman and her baby girl. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this appalling double murder; Krakauer constructs a multi-layered; bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion; polygamy; savage violence; and unyielding faith. Along the way he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America’s fastest growing religion; and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief.
#7552383 in Books 2013-06-10 2016-02-04Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.50 x .50 x 5.51l; .0 #File Name: 1349461121197 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Very Timely for all that is happening in Crimea and the recent Olympic Games in Sochi!By Carla WatsonIt is this reader’s assertion that the book tells a more complete story. This allows for a more informed view of the decade long events that lead up to the “boycott yearsâ€; the issues during and those that would follow. In a Zero Sum game the advantages gained by one must mean a loss to the other. With a long standing inability; at the time; for the Nations involved we can see this theory at play. The Los Angeles games were a success and not having the Soviets and their supporters there made only a small ripple economically to the games. Furthermore; there was no ability to avenge the “Miracle on Ice†which may have gone a long way to make statement about socialist power over time. It is not hard to agree that the Olympic Games have occasionally been used as a surrogate war and it is likely that that will be the case again. During the Sochi Games; the rise of Russia in Crimea and that we are learning daily about diplomatic relations today this book is timely and fascinating! I highly recommend.1 of 5 people found the following review helpful. Very PoorBy H. CampbellThis is a very poor book. It contains so many fundamental historical errors that I had to give up reading it; so shorn of confidence was I that anything in it was accurate. These mistakes are so easy to discern that one wonders just what kind of research the author did; even Wikipedia would expose these quite easily. Avoid.
