A Thousand Lives
The Untold Story of Hope, Deception, and Survival at Jonestown
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4.5 • 55 Ratings
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
In 1954, a pastor named Jim Jones opened a church in Indianapolis called Peoples Temple Full Gospel Church. He was a charismatic preacher with idealistic beliefs, and he quickly filled his pews with an audience eager to hear his sermons on social justice. As Jones’s behavior became erratic and his message more ominous, his followers leaned on each other to recapture the sense of equality that had drawn them to his church. But even as the congregation thrived, Jones made it increasingly difficult for members to leave. By the time Jones moved his congregation to a remote jungle in Guyana and the US government began to investigate allegations of abuse and false imprisonment in Jonestown, it was too late.
A Thousand Lives is the story of Jonestown as it has never been told. New York Times bestselling author Julia Scheeres drew from tens of thousands of recently declassified FBI documents and audiotapes, as well as rare videos and interviews, to piece together an unprecedented and compelling history of the doomed camp, focusing on the people who lived there.
The people who built Jonestown wanted to forge a better life for themselves and their children. In South America, however, they found themselves trapped in Jonestown and cut off from the outside world as their leader goaded them toward committing “revolutionary suicide” and deprived them of food, sleep, and hope. Vividly written and impossible to forget, A Thousand Lives is a story of blind loyalty and daring escapes, of corrupted ideals and senseless, haunting loss.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
While researching a novel set in a cult environment, Scheeres (Jesus Land) discovered the 50,000 pages of documents released by the FBI about the mass-murder suicide at Jonestown. She decided to change her project, and the result is this detailed, haunting account of the zealous young preacher from Indiana who convinced 1,000 people to move to a farm in Guyana and sacrifice their lives according to his vision. As Scheeres writes, Jim Jones "painted himself as modern Moses who would save his people...by leading them to the promised land of Jonestown." The book maintains some novelistic features, particularly excellent character development, as seen in the vividly described, though still elusive Jones. Jonestown residents like Tommy Bogue, a rebellious teenager frequently a victim of Jones' ire, and Edith Roller, passionate socialist and Jonestown chronicler, are among the good people caught up in Jones's twisted vision. Scheeres quotes heavily from the 45-minute recording Jones made while instructing his people to drink poison, and the final pages follow up with some of the survivors. Chilling and heart-wrenching, this is a brilliant testament to Jones's victims, so many of whom were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Customer Reviews
Beginning to Understand
My friend, a Bay Area author, recommended I read this book. I was a young man when the tragedy at Jonestown occurred, and every year I notice in the local newspaper the gathering at the Oakland cemetary where many are burried. However, it was not until I read "A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Jonestown" that I began to understand how almost 1,000 people would take their lives. I had always assumed that it was religious fervor. I now understand that it more closely resembled the Nazi extermination camps.
The only reason I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 is because the organization left me puzzled--a lot. This book screams for a section that lists brief biographical sketches of the 20-30 major persons followed in this story. There were so many characters that I lost track, often had to look them up in the index, and then return to the story. Still, the story is compelling. We all know the end result--or at least we think we do--until we reach the end of the book itself, which describes the lives of the survivors.
Some of the odd items in this book include the connection between one of the long-time Jim Jones followers to two of President Reagan's Cabinet members, how easy it was to purchase poison in massive quantities in the 1970s (from a company still in operation), and how San Francisco's slain elected officials, Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, were supporters of Jim Jones when he was based in San Francisco.
I recommend this book to anyone with the slightest interest in Jonestown. I just wish it were organized differently or included a road map for us to follow the (sometimes intertwining lives of) characters.
Wow!
I have read, watched and listened to everything Jonestown I could find, so I thought I pretty much knew it all. I was wrong. Not only is this book well written, it is chock full of details I never knew. Definitely a must-read!
A Thousand Lives
Great book it was really hard to put it down as you wanted to see what happens next.