The Penguin Book of Cults

ISBN 10: 0143138693 / ISBN 13: 9780143138693

Editore: Penguin Random House LLC, 2026

New Book. Shipped from UK. Established seller since 2000. Codice articolo WB-9780143138693

Riassunto:

A chilling history of the most notorious cults of the past two thousand years

The word “cult” conjures images of people in thrall to a charismatic leader who extracts obedience through lies and threats, and of apocalyptic prophecies, sexual perversion, and mass suicide. From the Celtic druids, whose ritual sacrifices inspired the folk horror film The Wicker Man, all the way up to the Peoples Temple and Heaven’s Gate, The Penguin Book of Cults charts the history of our fear of the religious other.

Bringing to light little-known sources such as a “death tape” of Jonestown’s final hour, when Jim Jones led more than 900 of his followers to drink poison, and a minute-by-minute log of the FBI’s final assault on the Branch Davidian headquarters, and including accounts of drinking the blood of sacrificed cats, theories that we are living inside a hollow earth, and reports that space brothers from Venus are coming to redeem us from the threat of nuclear war, this volume opens a fascinating window into cults and why some of them have ended in spectacular violence.

Informazioni sull'autore:

Joseph P. Laycock (External Editor)
Joseph P. Laycock is an assistant professor of religious studies at Texas State University and a co-editor of the journal Nova Religio. He is the author or editor of several books about religion, including Speak of the Devil, Spirit Possession Around the World, and The Seer of Bayside, and has written for Quartz and The New Republic. He lives in Austin, Texas.

Dati bibliografici

Titolo: The Penguin Book of Cults
Casa editrice: Penguin Random House LLC
Data di pubblicazione: 2026
Legatura: PAP
Condizione: New