Death Cults

Download Death Cults PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Virgin Books
ISBN 13 : 9780753506448
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (64 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Death Cults by : Jack Sargeant

Download or read book Death Cults written by Jack Sargeant and published by Virgin Books. This book was released on 2002 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The deadly belief systems of cults worldwide hold an immense fascination for those desperate enought to look for ' ultimate truths'. Throughout history, thousands of people have joined cults and committed acts of mind-boggling atrocity in the belief they would attain power or everlasting life. From the acid-drenched psychosis of the Manson Family to the primitive barbarism of the Ugandan Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God, the deluded followers of cults and their charismatic and megalomaniac leaders- have been responsible for history's most shocking and bizarre assassinations, slayings, and mass suicides.Jack Sargeant has compiled twelve in-depth essays from a variety of experts on this deadly phenomenon, The book includes cults about whom very little has previously been written, such as the Russian castration sect and the bizarre Japanese Aum doomsday cult which released sarin gas into Tokyo's subways,Read this volume and take a ride straight to hell!

Sometimes I Never Suffered

Download Sometimes I Never Suffered PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN 13 : 0374721807
Total Pages : 73 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (747 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Sometimes I Never Suffered by : Shane McCrae

Download or read book Sometimes I Never Suffered written by Shane McCrae and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2020-08-04 with total page 73 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spanning religious, historical, and political themes, a new collection from the award-winning poet I think now more than half Of life is death but I can’t die Enough for all the life I see In Sometimes I Never Suffered, his seventh collection of poems, Shane McCrae remains “a shrewd composer of American stories” (Dan Chiasson, The New Yorker). Here, an angel, hastily thrown together by his fellow residents of Heaven, plummets to Earth in his first moments of consciousness. Jim Limber, the adopted mixed-race son of Jefferson Davis, wanders through the afterlife, reckoning with the nuances of America’s racial history, as well as his own. Sometimes I Never Suffered is a search for purpose and atonement, freedom and forgiveness, imagining eternity not as an escape from the past or present, but as a reverberating record and as the culmination of time’s manifold potential to mend.

Deadly Cults

Download Deadly Cults PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 0313057613
Total Pages : 248 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (13 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Deadly Cults by : Robert L. Snow

Download or read book Deadly Cults written by Robert L. Snow and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2003-11-30 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How does a Vampire Cult differ from a Satanic Cult? How do seemingly normal or ordinary citizens suddenly find themselves committed to a group whose leader promotes criminal activities and isolation from families and friends? What should you do if a loved one becomes indoctrinated by a potentially dangerous cult? This book focuses on various cults and their often criminal belief systems. Most readers are shocked by stories of mass suicides and ritualized cult killings, but few understand how such crimes come to be committed. Snow, a seasoned police officer with experience working on cult crimes, examines those cults that commit offenses from murder and fraud to kidnapping and sexual assault. By providing specific accounts of dangerous cults and their destructive acts, Snow illustrates how seemingly innocent groups can turn pernicious when under the sway of a charismatic leader with an agenda, or when members take things too far. He offers advice on how to avoid falling victim to cult indoctrination, concluding with chapters on how to identify cults, how to protect yourself and your family, and what to do if a loved one is ensnared by such a group.

Killer Cults

Download Killer Cults PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Union Square & Co.
ISBN 13 : 1454939435
Total Pages : 279 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (549 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Killer Cults by : Stephen Singular

Download or read book Killer Cults written by Stephen Singular and published by Union Square & Co.. This book was released on 2021-06-29 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What’s scarier than a murderer? Someone with the charisma to compel others to kill for them . . . or to kill themselves. Meet these cult leaders—and get an inside look at their beliefs and how they controlled others. Some cults, led by leaders like Charlie Manson, Jim Jones, and David Koresh, are notorious. But others are less well known, such as Shoko Asahara and his doomsday cult, Aum Shinrikyo, who orchestrated the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway. Or Joseph Di Mambro and Luc Jouret, who founded the Order of the Solar Temple, a doomsday cult that led to the death of 51 members by murder or suicide. Then there is Marshall Applewhite, leader of Heaven’s Gate, who, along with 38 followers, killed themselves in the belief that the Hale-Bopp comet signaled the arrival of a spaceship that would transport them to a higher plane of existence. What makes cult leaders so compelling is their often-unfathomable power over their adherents. Why do people kill others or themselves for a questionable set of beliefs? Killer Cults tells the stories behind both famous and unfamiliar cults, and the people behind them. Across a series of profiles, we learn the jaw-dropping truth behind some of the most mystifying and deadly cults, and their leaders, all of whom led their followers down a dark, murderous path.

Cult of the Dead

Download Cult of the Dead PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Univ of California Press
ISBN 13 : 0520975715
Total Pages : 383 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (29 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Cult of the Dead by : Kyle Smith

Download or read book Cult of the Dead written by Kyle Smith and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2022-11-08 with total page 383 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A cultural history of how Christianity was born from its martyrs. Though it promises eternal life, Christianity was forged in death. Christianity is built upon the legacies of the apostles and martyrs who chose to die rather than renounce the name of their lord. In this innovative cultural history, Kyle Smith shows how a devotion to death has shaped Christianity for two thousand years. For centuries, Christians have cared for their saints, curating their deaths as examples of holiness. Martyrs’ stories, lurid legends of torture, have been told and retold, translated and rewritten. Martyrs’ bones are alive in the world, relics pulsing with wonder. Martyrs’ shrines are still visited by pilgrims, many in search of a miracle. Martyrs have even shaped the Christian conception of time, with each day of the year celebrating the death of a saint. From Roman antiquity to the present, by way of medieval England and the Protestant Reformation, Cult of the Dead tells the fascinating story of how the world’s most widespread religion is steeped in the memory of its martyrs.

Deadly Delusions

Download Deadly Delusions PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 172 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (75 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Deadly Delusions by : Barry Mauer

Download or read book Deadly Delusions written by Barry Mauer and published by . This book was released on 2020-08-24 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Prescient." "An important piece of work." "While reading it, I was thinking this could be me writing this book, except it is much better articulated." "Diagnoses the condition and recommends decisive action." "Accessible to a mixed audience: both the general population and to an academic-based audience." "We need more bluntness like Mauer's." "The cartoon section as a stand-alone is great for students and even as a coffee table book. The graphics alone could draw one in. Someone sitting in your living room could easily pick it up and learn some extremely important basics pertaining to the right-wing media machine and ideology. It could pique their interest." "Mauer's book makes clear in its straightforward and blunt approach how urgent it is for us to address this issue. He tackles the issue from every side, from how the disinformation has trickled down and deceived his students, to how dangerous it can be to society as a whole and what we can and can't do about it." "Mauer speaks frankly and clearly about the dangerous delusions of the Right." Jen Senko, Director of The Brainwashing of My Dad Educators want their students to live healthy, ethical lives within a healthy, ethical society. But an enormous obstacle stands in the way: a right-wing cult that poses an existential threat to personal and collective well-being. This cult, tens of millions strong, blocks efforts to address all other major problems including climate change, racism, economic exploitation, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet many people fail to see the right wing for the serious threat that it is. Often, those who do take the threat seriously lack a holistic understanding of the problem and grossly underestimate the difficulty of confronting it. The rise of an anti-intellectual, science-hating, rage-driven right wing is the culmination of sustained efforts by right wing organizations coinciding with multi-systemic failures in the domains of journalism, education, and politics. The right wing is dragging the world to doom and furiously blocking all attempts by good people to stop it. We are witnessing the suicide of human civilization and the closing of all opportunities to intervene effectively. We need a wake-up call, a proper diagnosis of our condition, and decisive action.Our situation has become so extreme that the proper terms for it - the president is a psychopath; his followers are delusional fanatics locked in a genocidal cult - sound like hyperbolic and childish name calling. The very words required to diagnose our condition have been banished from mainstream public discourse by decorum, disbelief, and a misbegotten sense of fairness. While we debate whether such terminology is appropriate, right-wing pathologies have grown more malignant and engrained in our society. We are at an impasse.

Cults

Download Cults PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1982133562
Total Pages : 416 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (821 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Cults by : Max Cutler

Download or read book Cults written by Max Cutler and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2022-07-12 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mystery. Manipulation. Murder. Cults are associated with all of these. But what really goes on inside them? More specifically, what goes on inside the minds of cult leaders and the people who join them? Based on the hit podcast Cults, this is essential reading for any true crime fan. Cults prey on the very attributes that make us human: our desire to belong, to find a deeper meaning in life, to live everyday with divine purpose. Their existence creates a sense that any one of us, at any time, could step off the cliff’s edge and fall into that daunting abyss of manipulation and unhinged dedication to a misplaced cause. Perhaps it’s this mindset that keeps us so utterly obsessed and desperate to learn more, or it’s that the stories are so bizarre and unsettling that we are simply in awe of the mechanics that make these infamous groups tick. The premier storytelling podcast studio Parcast has been focusing on unearthing these mechanics—the cult leaders and followers, and the world and culture that gave birth to both. Parcast’s work in analyzing dozens of case studies has revealed patterns: distinct ways that cult leaders from different generations resemble one another. What links the ten notorious figures profiled in Cults are as disturbing as they are stunning—from Manson to Applewhite, Koresh to Raël, the stories woven here are both spellbinding and disturbing. Cults is more than just a compilation of grisly biographies, however. In these pages, Parcast’s founder Max Cutler and national bestselling author Kevin Conley look closely at the lives of some of the most disreputable cult figures and tell the stories of their rise to power and fall from grace, sanity, and decency. Beyond that, it is a study of humanity, an unflinching look at what happens when the most vulnerable recesses of the mind are manipulated and how the things we hold most sacred can be twisted into the lowest form of malevolence.

Revisiting Jonestown

Download Revisiting Jonestown PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Lexington Books
ISBN 13 : 1498552706
Total Pages : 179 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (985 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Revisiting Jonestown by : Domenico Arturo Nesci

Download or read book Revisiting Jonestown written by Domenico Arturo Nesci and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2017-12-13 with total page 179 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Revisiting Jonestown covers three main topics: the psycho-biography of Jim Jones (the leader of the suicidal community) from the new perspective of Prenatal Psychology and transgenerational trauma, the story of his Peoples Temple, with emphasis on what kind of leadership and membership were responsible for their tragic end, and the interpretation of death rituals by religious cults as regression to primordial stages of human evolution, when a series of genetic mutations changed the destiny of Homo Sapiens, at the dawn of religion and human awareness. A pattern of collective suicide is finally identified, making it possible to foresee and try to prevent its tragic repetition. At the same time, through an artistic editorial work on original images from the Peoples Temple files, a sort of Multimedia Psychotherapy is subliminally delivered in order to help the mourning of the victims of Jonestown, to whose memory the book is dedicated.

Cults Death Cults and Their Leaders

Download Cults Death Cults and Their Leaders PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781694392329
Total Pages : 64 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (923 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Cults Death Cults and Their Leaders by : Leo Hardy

Download or read book Cults Death Cults and Their Leaders written by Leo Hardy and published by . This book was released on 2019-09-20 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The word Cult conjures up different images and brings to mind far too many names to ever fully list. The goal of some cult leaders was wealth and power, while others were after comfort or sex. The darkest and most notorious cults and their leaders sought to spread their evil messages through violence and mass murder. Through war and genocidal acts. From the Thuggee cult that inspired the term Thug to the brown shirts of Germany who would become the most destructive cult of all time, the Nazis. The cults and cults leaders covered in this book are. The rise and fall of Tony Alamo and his church, the Alamo Christian Foundation. The infamous Japanese doomsday cult, Aum Shinrikyo, and its leader Shoko Asahara They would in the subways of Tokyo use nerve gas to execute a horrific domestic terror attacks happened on March 20, 1995. Ervil LeBaron was a Mormon fundamentalist cult leader who orders killings by blood atonement which is allowed in the religions. Marshall Applewhite and his Heaven's Gate cult would engage in a chilling act of mass suicide. NXIVM is among one of the most fascinating cults out there. It pandered to wanna be's and used multi-level marketing tactics to recruit. Money, sex and power were the goals of the cults leader Keith Raniere. The Order of the Solar Temple cult is a well known cult in Europe. In America, though, the stories of this nefarious cult is not well known at all. The cult was run by Joseph Di Mambro and Luc Jouret. This doomsday cult ultimately ended in murder and suicide, as many of them do. The Thuggee Remember the cold-hearted, human sacrificing cult from the 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'? Well, the assassins you saw really existed -- and they go down in history as the most notorious, cold-hearted, and dreaded thug group to ever exist. David Koresh who was born under the name Vernon Wayne Howell was a cult leader. He was the leader of the Branch Davidians he claimed he was a prophet. The end for this false prophet would come in fire and murder in a place just outside of Waco Texas. When people think of the Nazis, Adolph Hitler and the Holocaust are often the first thoughts to come to mind. While Hitler organized this cult of oppression and murder, its roots started somewhat earlier. The more we know about this death cult, the more likely the world will be to avoid similar tragedies in the future. In the end Hitler may be the prototype for all cult leaders and his achievements the darkest dreams come to life of most of them. His Nazi cult the definition of the word hate. Hitler's name has become an abomination, mention only to damn those who would attempt to walk in is blood stained footsteps.

Without a Prayer

Download Without a Prayer PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1643131869
Total Pages : 400 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (431 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Without a Prayer by : Susan Ashline

Download or read book Without a Prayer written by Susan Ashline and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2019-08-06 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The horrifying true story of a fatal encounter inside the secluded Word of Life Christian Church, a parish-turned-cult in upstate New York. Teenager Lucas Leonard made shocking admissions in front of the altar—he’d practiced witchcraft and conspired to murder his parents, among other horrific crimes. The confessions earned him a brutal beating by a gang of angry church members, including his parents and sister. Lucas arrived at the hospital dead, awakening the sleepy community of Chadwicks, New York, to the horror that had been lurking next door. Nine members of Lucas’ church would eventually find themselves facing murder-related charges. But how did they get to that point? And what made Lucas confess? The full story has never been told—until now. Emmy-nominated journalist Susan Ashline delves deep into the Leonard family history, the darkness within the Word of Life Christian Church, and what led Lucas, his family, and his community to that fateful night.

Cults of the Dead in Ancient Israel and Ugarit

Download Cults of the Dead in Ancient Israel and Ugarit PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : BRILL
ISBN 13 : 9004387188
Total Pages : 246 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (43 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Cults of the Dead in Ancient Israel and Ugarit by : Theodore J. Lewis

Download or read book Cults of the Dead in Ancient Israel and Ugarit written by Theodore J. Lewis and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2019-11-26 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Cults That Kill

Download Cults That Kill PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1612438814
Total Pages : 161 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (124 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Cults That Kill by : Wendy Joan Biddlecombe Agsar

Download or read book Cults That Kill written by Wendy Joan Biddlecombe Agsar and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2018-12-18 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A true crime author explores what happens when cults cross the line in this anthology of false prophets, true believers, and tragic consequences. Thousands of religious, political and self-improvement cults are active around the world, and an estimated two to five million Americans have been involved in a cult at some point in their lives. While not all cults are destructive, these stories demonstrate how unwavering faith in an infallible leader can lead lay the groundwork for criminal acts a heinous as murder or mass suicide. True crime author Joan Biddlecombe Agsar uncovers what really happened inside some of modern history’s most notorious cults, including: • The Manson Family Hippie devotees turn violent to manifest God’s race war • The Peoples Temple Hundreds of utopia seekers meet their end in the Guyanese jungle by ingesting a cyanide-laced drink • The Vampire Clan Teenagers consume blood and bludgeon an unsuspecting Florida couple to death • Heaven’s Gate Nike-adorned disciples commit suicide to transport onto a spaceship approaching • Earth Silvia Meraz Moreno’s Santa Muerte Cult Members collect sacrificial blood by slicing open victims’ veins while their hearts are still beating

Cults Uncovered

Download Cults Uncovered PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0744022002
Total Pages : 211 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (44 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Cults Uncovered by : Emily G. Thompson

Download or read book Cults Uncovered written by Emily G. Thompson and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-02-04 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The shocking truth about some of the most disturbing, criminal cults that have ever existed. How did Charles Manson inspire his "family" to launch a campaign of murder? What twisted ideology lay behind horrific events like the Waco Siege, the Aum Shinrikyo's poison-gas attack on the Tokyo metro, and the mass suicides and murders of Jonestown? Why did the suicidal members of Heaven's Gate believe doomsday was at hand? How did the idealistic commune of Rajneeshpuram collapse into shocking controversies, involving biological terrorism and attempted murder? Cults Uncovered explores these and many more strange and disturbing factions and sects from all over the world to expose terrifying stories of manipulation, coercion, abuse, and murder.

The Ancient Roman Afterlife

Download The Ancient Roman Afterlife PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : University of Texas Press
ISBN 13 : 1477320202
Total Pages : 302 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (773 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Ancient Roman Afterlife by : Charles King

Download or read book The Ancient Roman Afterlife written by Charles King and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2020-03-10 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In ancient Rome, it was believed some humans were transformed into special, empowered beings after death. These deified dead, known as the manes, watched over and protected their surviving family members, possibly even extending those relatives’ lives. But unlike the Greek hero-cult, the worship of dead emperors, or the Christian saints, the manes were incredibly inclusive—enrolling even those without social clout, such as women and the poor, among Rome's deities. The Roman afterlife promised posthumous power in the world of the living. While the manes have often been glossed over in studies of Roman religion, this book brings their compelling story to the forefront, exploring their myriad forms and how their worship played out in the context of Roman religion’s daily practice. Exploring the place of the manes in Roman society, Charles King delves into Roman beliefs about their powers to sustain life and bring death to individuals or armies, examines the rituals the Romans performed to honor them, and reclaims the vital role the manes played in the ancient Roman afterlife.

Cults

Download Cults PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Quercus Publishing
ISBN 13 : 152940164X
Total Pages : 272 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (294 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Cults by : Nigel Cawthorne

Download or read book Cults written by Nigel Cawthorne and published by Quercus Publishing. This book was released on 2019-08-08 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The inside story of the world's most notorious cults. The strange and sinister world of cults is a source of endless fascination. Their secrets, rituals and shadowy hierarchies make for some of the most disturbing and shocking revelations in history. Most chilling of all is the fact that many of their followers forfeit all independence in order to carry out the often sadistic bidding of a mysterious master manipulator - and continue to defend their leader to this day. From Charles Manson, who instructed his followers to murder seven people, including a heavily pregnant Sharon Tate, to Aum Shinrikyo, the Japanese doomsday cult that carried out deadly terror attacks, and the People's Temple, these cults and their leaders transfix us with their extreme ability to commit savage acts of cruelty and depravity in the name of a self-appointed higher power. Many shocking and international cults are brought to life, including: - The Manson Family - People's Temple - Colonia Dignidad - Thuggees - Aum Shinrikyo - Skopsty - Raëlism - Heaven's Gate

Cults of Death and Madness

Download Cults of Death and Madness PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : WordFire +ORM
ISBN 13 : 1680572334
Total Pages : 351 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (85 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Cults of Death and Madness by : John Haas

Download or read book Cults of Death and Madness written by John Haas and published by WordFire +ORM. This book was released on 2021-12-13 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first in a new Lovecraftian trilogy, “a frightening Victorian adventure of ancient idols, blood-sacrifice cults, and Elder Gods” (Hellnotes). 1878—Doctor Archibald Shaw arrives in India with lofty intentions. He wants to make a difference in the world. As a young doctor and new officer in Her Majesty’s British army, he wants nothing more than to help the local people while distinguishing himself in Queen Victoria’s foreign service. In short order, though, Shaw finds his basic concept of the world turned upside down. It begins with an ugly idol, and an evil from the dawn of time waiting to return to this world. This elder god still sleeps . . . but fitfully, and a cult long thought destroyed has come back to awaken it. They will kill anyone who gets in their way. Everything Shaw once believed true dissolves around him, and he grasps at straws to keep his own sanity—including the desperate friendship of one young orphan boy. Will it be enough to keep him alive? Shaw begins to realize that the fate of all humanity rests in his hands.

Cultish

Download Cultish PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : HarperCollins
ISBN 13 : 0062993178
Total Pages : 320 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (629 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Cultish by : Amanda Montell

Download or read book Cultish written by Amanda Montell and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2021-06-15 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author of the widely praised Wordslut analyzes the social science of cult influence: how cultish groups from Jonestown and Scientology to SoulCycle and social media gurus use language as the ultimate form of power. What makes “cults” so intriguing and frightening? What makes them powerful? The reason why so many of us binge Manson documentaries by the dozen and fall down rabbit holes researching suburban moms gone QAnon is because we’re looking for a satisfying explanation for what causes people to join—and more importantly, stay in—extreme groups. We secretly want to know: could it happen to me? Amanda Montell’s argument is that, on some level, it already has . . . Our culture tends to provide pretty flimsy answers to questions of cult influence, mostly having to do with vague talk of “brainwashing.” But the true answer has nothing to do with freaky mind-control wizardry or Kool-Aid. In Cultish, Montell argues that the key to manufacturing intense ideology, community, and us/them attitudes all comes down to language. In both positive ways and shadowy ones, cultish language is something we hear—and are influenced by—every single day. Through juicy storytelling and cutting original research, Montell exposes the verbal elements that make a wide spectrum of communities “cultish,” revealing how they affect followers of groups as notorious as Heaven’s Gate, but also how they pervade our modern start-ups, Peloton leaderboards, and Instagram feeds. Incisive and darkly funny, this enrapturing take on the curious social science of power and belief will make you hear the fanatical language of “cultish” everywhere.