Koresh
The True Story of David Koresh and the Tragedy at Waco
-
- 9,99 €
Beschreibung des Verlags
In the Spring of 1993, federal agents raided the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. A 51-day standoff ensued. Known as the Waco Siege, it has become a founding myth of the extreme wing of American conservatism, invoked by militiamen, gun rights advocates, and the alt-right.
The leader of the evangelical sect, an extreme form of Seventh-Day Adventism, was David Koresh. Born Vernon Howell, he was a preacher, interpreter of the Bible, and obsessed with the coming of the Apocalypse. A charismatic but highly volatile man, he was a former victim of sexual abuse who himself became a sexual predator on a large scale, exploiting many of the women in his compound.
Koresh is Stephan Talty's extraordinary, meticulous narration of the events that led up to the Waco Siege. Drawing on new sources, FBI negotiation tapes, and interviews with family and friends, this definitive biography explores how Koresh grew from a young man to a cult leader, and investigates why the siege has become an enduring symbol for radical opponents of the democratic state.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this searing account, journalist Talty (The Black Hand) paints a detailed portrait of David Koresh, the leader of the Branch Davidian cult. From his unwed teen mother's religious obsession to his stepfather's physical and mental abuse, Koresh, born Vernon Wayne Howell in 1959, struggled through life, exhibiting both mental and learning disabilities. Searching for love and purpose through religion and sex, he stumbled into the Branch Davidian sect in Waco, Tex., and worked his way from being something of a rather pathetic lost sheep to an egotistical prophet spouting delusions about angels and God. As his power grew, so did his derangement until he demanded more and more from his followers; he sexually abused underage girls and denied adults food and the right to marry. By 1990, some had broken free and left the cult, while Koresh armed the true believers that remained at his Mount Carmel compound. Talty makes a solid case that Koresh alternated between delusions of grandeur and possibly knowing he was insane, and that the tragic outcome of the government standoff with the Davidians in 1993 was aided by the media circus surrounding it and the conflict between the ATF and the FBI. This well-researched and enlightening book is un-put-downable.
