Under the Banner of Heaven Under the Banner of Heaven

Under the Banner of Heaven

A Story of Violent Faith

    • 4.2 • 741 Ratings
    • $13.99

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.

GENRE
Nonfiction
RELEASED
2003
July 15
LANGUAGE
EN
English
LENGTH
400
Pages
PUBLISHER
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
SELLER
Penguin Random House LLC
SIZE
6.8
MB

Customer Reviews

mrtorian ,

A really good read.

Great insight into a modern American religion and it's terrible offspring.

BookCliffsHistoryBuff ,

The Best Book Ever Written About Mormons.

I have lived in Utah for thirty-five years, and I have been a practicing attorney for twenty-seven years. I was married to a BYU-educated woman, the daughter of a Bishop and Stake Relief Society President, for ten years. I currently represent two woman who are seeking relief from abusive Mormon men, including one case pending in American Fork, where the Lafferty saga climaxed. This is by far the best, and most accurate, book ever written about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and it's various schisms. And it is the only book that accurately examines the Mormon church in the wider context of religious experience and motivation. In addition, the book is well written and captivating.

Joe Bellante ,

A Good Krakauer read.

Maybe a little too bloody and gristly for me. The parallels to todays political and religious climate are striking.

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