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The Penguin Book of Cults

by Joseph P. Laycock

  

€ 18.75 

ISBN: 9780143138693

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.

320 pages.

Not Yet Published.

Printed on or after 16/04/26. Please note dispatch may take 5-10 days after publication date.
A separate order should be placed for this item. If you order this along with other items, your entire order will be held and despatched when complete.

Date of Publication: 16/04/2026

Cover of The Penguin Book of Cults - Joseph P. Laycock - 9780143138693Paperback

The Penguin Book of Cults also appears in these Categories:

Religion

Forthcoming Books