Under the Banner of Heaven
Books | True Crime / Murder / General
4.1
(9.1K)
Jon Krakauer
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the author of Into the Wild and Into Thin Air, this extraordinary work of investigative journalism takes readers inside America’s isolated Mormon Fundamentalist communities. • Now an acclaimed FX limited series streaming on HULU.“Fantastic.... Right up there with In Cold Blood and The Executioner’s Song.” —San Francisco ChronicleDefying 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; some 40,000 people still practice polygamy in these communities. 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.
True Crime
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Author
Jon Krakauer
Pages
432
Publisher
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published Date
2004-06-08
ISBN
1400078997 9781400078998
Ratings
Google: 3.5
Community ReviewsSee all
"For me, this book is about the history of the Mormon religion. In particular, the “Fundamentalists”. As with all Krakauer books, I find them both full of information and difficult to follow. There is just so much nuance and backstory and the central theme of this book appears to be a disturbing double murder but at least half of the book is dedicated to other people. Crazy story…but again, his style of writing makes it difficult for me to follow."
"Yep, Krakauer could write about paint drying and I still think he could pull it off. This man knows how to teach me about things I never thought I would want to learn about, that's a really cool talent. I only wish he was still writing... I only have three books left to read by him. But anyways, this story was one of the most impactful for me, I didn't know very much at all about Mormans before I read this, and now I feel like it's crazy that I haden't because of how large a role they play in the United States.
I've grown up apart from almost all Morman activity, and I guess that a lot of Americans have. So it's wild to learn about a culture that's so impactful for the first time through this book. I was amazed, angry, sad, and rivited while reading this book. Relgion has always been scary to me, and reading a book like this reinforces that fear, Krakauer did such a great job of illustrating everything in a unbiased light. His storytelling is really above par.
With research this book took four years for him to write and I think it's something every American should read. I do think it dragged on a little and was longer then it needed to be, but it really does have a ton of really important stuff in it. This is one I'll remember forever, thank you Jon Krakauer, you deserve even more hype then you get."
"Im not going to say much about this one. I feel like 🤯 after this book.
There were parts that were hard to follow…and many parts hard to hear. It was interesting to learn about the beginnings of the Mormon religion and the offshoots of fundamentalism.
I can see how it would be controversial so that’s all I’ll say about it! Lol ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️"
"An amazing true account of the cult like side of mormonism and a crime story as well. Krakauer is one of the most compelling writers and this book is right there with Into Thin Air and Into the Wild."
B M
Brenda Mathewson
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