Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith (Unabridged)
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- ¥2,546
Publisher Description
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 Chronicle
Defying 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.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
In 1984, 24-year-old Brenda Lafferty was an educated woman, a beloved wife and mother, and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when her husband Allen’s brothers Dan and Ron murdered her and her infant daughter, Erica, in cold blood. The men believed Brenda had encouraged Dan’s wife to leave him—but as John Krakauer reveals in this brilliant nonfiction account, their motives went beyond simple retribution. The brothers had joined a fundamentalist group within the Mormon faith that encouraged men to take multiple wives (in Dan’s case, including his own stepdaughter) and to follow their “divine inspiration” even into deadly violence. Krakauer dives into the origins of the LDS faith itself, linking the church’s history with the tragic events. Veteran narrator Scott Brick’s compelling delivery immerses you in the insular world of this shocking crime.
