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The Road to Jonestown

Jim Jones and Peoples Temple
Jul 18, 2017lukasevansherman rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
"We didn't commit suicide. We committed an act of revolutionary suicide protesting the conditions of an inhumane world."-Jim Jones Even if they don't know the origin, most people know the phrase "Don't drink the Kool-Aid." In reality, it was an off brand, which is one of the things you'll learn in this exhaustive and long (close to 500 pages) look at the tragedy of Jonestown. Jeff Guin, who has also written about Charles Manson, delves into the childhood of Jones and the rise of his church, the Peoples Temple, which initially was idealistic and committed to racial and social equality. Despite the extensive research, I finished the book without much a sense of who Jones was and why so many people blindly followed him, even into death. It does provide a fresh take on the events, but could've been shorter and more insightful. There's also "Hearing the Voices of Jonestown," which takes the victims' perspective and the film "The Sacrament," which is a fictionalized version of the story.