Best Books About Cults
Best Books, Biography & Memoir, Fiction & Literature, History, Literature, Nonfiction

The Best Books About Or Featuring Cults (Nonfiction & Fiction)

“What are the best books about Cults?” We looked at 388 of the top fiction & nonfiction books, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!

The top 26 titles, all appearing on 3 or more “Best Cult” book lists, are ranked below by how many lists they appear on. The remaining 300+ titles, as well as the lists we used are in alphabetical order at the bottom of the page.

Happy Scrolling!



Top 26 Books About Cults Books



26 .) Banished: Surviving My Years in the Westboro Baptist Church by Lauren Drain

Lists It Appears On:

  • Book Riot
  • Bustle
  • Goodreads

“You’ve likely heard of the Westboro Baptist Church. Perhaps you’ve seen their pickets on the news, the members holding signs with messages that are too offensive to copy here, protesting at events such as the funerals of soldiers, the 9-year old victim of the recent Tucson shooting, and Elizabeth Edwards, all in front of their grieving families. The WBC is fervently anti-gay, anti-Semitic, and anti- practically everything and everyone. And they aren’t going anywhere: in March, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the WBC’s right to picket funerals.

Since no organized religion will claim affiliation with the WBC, it’s perhaps more accurate to think of them as a cult. Lauren Drain was thrust into that cult at the age of 15, and then spat back out again seven years later. BANISHED is the first look inside the organization, as well as a fascinating story of adaptation and perseverance. “

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25 .) Betrayal of the Spirit: My Life Behind the Headlines of the Hare Krishna Movement by Nori J. Muster

Lists It Appears On:

  • Cult Research
  • ICSA
  • Book Riot

“Nori J. Muster joined the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)–the Hare Krishnas–in 1978, shortly after the death of the movement’s spiritual master, and worked for ten years as a public relations secretary and editor of the organization’s newspaper, the ISKCON World Review. In this candid and critical account, Muster follows the inner workings of the movement and the Hare Krishnas’ progressive decline.

Combining personal reminiscences, published articles, and internal documents, Betrayal of the Spirit details the scandals that beset the Krishnas–drug dealing, weapons stockpiling, deceptive fundraising, child abuse, and murder within ISKCON–as well as the dynamics of schisms that forced some 95 percent of the group’s original members to leave. In the midst of this institutional disarray, Muster continued her personal search for truth and religious meaning as an ISKCON member until, disillusioned at last with the movement’s internal divisions, she quit her job and left the organization.”

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24 .) Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape by Jenna Miscavige Hill

Lists It Appears On:

  • Bookbub
  • Book Riot
  • Goodreads

“Jenna Miscavige Hill, niece of Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige, was raised as a Scientologist but left the controversial religion in 2005. In Beyond Belief, she shares her true story of life inside the upper ranks of the sect, details her experiences as a member Sea Org—the church’s highest ministry, speaks of her “”disconnection”” from family outside of the organization, and tells the story of her ultimate escape.

In this tell-all memoir, complete with family photographs from her time in the Church, Jenna Miscavige Hill, a prominent critic of Scientology who now helps others leave the organization, offers an insider’s profile of the beliefs, rituals, and secrets of the religion that has captured the fascination of millions, including some of Hollywood’s brightest stars such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta.”

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23 .) Combatting Cult Mind Control by Steven Hassan

Lists It Appears On:

  • ICSA
  • Cult Research
  • About Great Books

A former cult member and a leading expert in counseling people away from cults, Steven Hassan brings his best-selling book to audiocassette. He exposes the troubling facts about destructive cults–including their use of psychological manipulation to gain money and power, and their influence on government, the legal system, and society as a whole–and explains how to distinguish them from constructive organizations. He gives specific guidance to those who are presently drawn or attached to cults and advice to concerned friends and family of cult members.An invaluable guide for parents, teachers, health professionals, clergy, attorneys, and all those whose lives are touched by cult issues.

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22 .) Cults in Our Midst by Janja Lalich and Margaret Singer

Lists It Appears On:

  • Cult Research
  • About Great Books
  • ICSA

A definitive and shocking expose that reveals what cults are and how they work. With vital information on how to help people escape cult entrapments and recover from the experience, this book will be an invaluable resource to former cult members.

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21 .) fathermothergod: My Journey Out of Christian Science by Lucia Greenhouse

Lists It Appears On:

  • Book Riot
  • Bustle
  • Goodreads

fathermothergod is Lucia Greenhouse’s story about growing up in Christian Science, in a house where you could not be sick, because you were perfect; where no medicine, even aspirin, was allowed. As a teenager, her visit to an ophthalmologist created a family crisis. She was a sophomore in college before she had her first annual physical. And in December 1985, when Lucia and her siblings, by then young adults, discovered that their mother was sick, they came face-to-face with the reality that they had few–if any–options to save her. Powerless as they watched their mother’s agonizing suffering, Lucia and her siblings struggled with their own grief, anger, and confusion, facing scrutiny from the doctors to whom their parents finally allowed them to turn, and stinging rebuke from relatives who didn’t share their parents’ religious values.

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20 .) God’s Brothel: The Extortion of Sex for Salvation in Contemporary Mormon and Christian Fundamentalist Polygamy and the Stories of 18 Women Who Escaped by Andrea Moore-Emmett

Lists It Appears On:

  • Book Riot
  • Cult Research
  • ICSA

A chilling indictment of contemporary Mormon and Christian fundamentalist polygamy, God’s Brothel reveals gruesome facts about Bible-based polygamy through the brave voices of 18 women who escaped from 10 of the 11 main religious groups as well as independent families. Their stories include rape, incest, orgies, and violence, making this form of polygamy more akin to sexual slavery than to any quaint religious or lifestyle choice.

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19 .) Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright

Lists It Appears On:

  • About Great Books
  • Book Riot
  • Goodreads

A clear-sighted revelation, a deep penetration into the world of Scientology by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming Tower, the now-classic study of al-Qaeda’s 9/11 attack. Based on more than two hundred personal interviews with current and former Scientologists-both famous and less well known-and years of archival research, Lawrence Wright uses his extraordinary investigative ability to uncover for us the inner workings of the Church of Scientology. At the book’s center, two men whom Wright brings vividly to life, showing how they have made Scientology what it is today: The darkly brilliant science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, whose restless, expansive mind invented a new religion. And his successor, David Miscavige-tough and driven, with the unenviable task of preserving the church after the death of Hubbard. We learn about Scientology’s complicated cosmology and special language. We see the ways in which the church pursues celebrities, such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta, and how such stars are used to advance the church’s goals. And we meet the young idealists who have joined the Sea Org, the church’s clergy, signing up with a billion-year contract.

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18 .) Jesus Freaks: A True Story of Murder and Madness on the Evangelical Edge by Don Lattin

Lists It Appears On:

  • Signature
  • Book Riot
  • Goodreads

“In the tradition of Jon Krakauer’s Under the Banner of Heaven, Don Lattin’s Jesus Freaks is the story of a shocking pilgrimage of revenge that left two people dead and shed new light on The Family International, one of the most controversial religious movements to emerge from the spiritual turmoil of the sixties and seventies.

Some say The Family International—previously known as the Children of God—began with the best intentions. But their sexual and spiritual excesses soon forced them to go underground and follow a dark and dangerous path. Their charismatic leader, David “”Moses”” Berg, preached a radical critique of the piety and hypocrisy of mainstream Christianity. But Berg’s message quickly devolved into its own web of lies. He lusted for power and unlimited access to female members of his flock—including young girls and teenagers—and became a drunken tyrant, setting up re-indoctrination camps around the world for rebellious teenagers under his control.”

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17 .) Kraken by China Miéville

Lists It Appears On:

  • Panmacmillan
  • Barnes & Noble
  • Goodreads

With this outrageous new novel, China Miéville has written one of the strangest, funniest, and flat-out scariest books you will read this—or any other—year. The London that comes to life in Kraken is a weird metropolis awash in secret currents of myth and magic, where criminals, police, cultists, and wizards are locked in a war to bring about—or prevent—the End of All Things.

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16 .) Not Without My Sister by Celeste Jones, Kristina Jones, and Juliana Buhring

Lists It Appears On:

  • ICSA
  • Goodreads
  • Book Riot

“From as early as three years old, Juliana, Celeste and Kristina were treated as sexual beings by their ‘guardians’ in the infamous religious cult known as the Children of God. They were made to watch and mimic orgies, received love letters and sexual advances from men old enough to be their grandfather, and were forced into abusive relationships. They were denied access to formal schooling, had to wander the streets begging for money, and were mercilessly beaten for ‘crimes’ as unpredictable as reading an encyclopaedia.

Finally, unable to live with the guilt of what had happened to her children, their mother escaped with Kristina, cutting herself off from her remaining children in a bid to save at least one child. Desperate to save her sisters, Kristina eventually returned to the place of her torture to free Celeste. Years later, Juliana found the courage to escape, knowing that the child she was carrying would be subjected to the same fate if she did not.”

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15 .) The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple by Jeff Guinn

Lists It Appears On:

  • Book Riot
  • Electric Lit
  • Goodreads

“In the 1950s, a young Indianapolis minister named Jim Jones preached a curious blend of the gospel and Marxism. His congregation was racially integrated, and he was a much-lauded leader in the contemporary civil rights movement. Eventually, Jones moved his church, Peoples Temple, to northern California. He became involved in electoral politics, and soon was a prominent Bay Area leader.

In this riveting narrative, Jeff Guinn examines Jones’s life, from his extramarital affairs, drug use, and fraudulent faith healing to the fraught decision to move almost a thousand of his followers to a settlement in the jungles of Guyana in South America. Guinn provides stunning new details of the events leading to the fatal day in November, 1978 when more than nine hundred people died—including almost three hundred infants and children—after being ordered to swallow a cyanide-laced drink.”

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14 .) The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes

Lists It Appears On:

  • Bookbub
  • Goodreads
  • Read It Forward

“The Kevinian cult has taken everything from seventeen-year-old Minnow: twelve years of her life, her family, her ability to trust. And when she rebelled, they took away her hands, too.

Now their Prophet has been murdered and their camp set aflame, and it’s clear that Minnow knows something—but she’s not talking. As she languishes in juvenile detention, she struggles to un-learn everything she has been taught to believe, adjusting to a life behind bars and recounting the events that led up to her incarceration. But when an FBI detective approaches her about making a deal, Minnow sees she can have the freedom she always dreamed of—if she’s willing to part with the terrible secrets of her past.”

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13 .) Cartwheels in a Sari: A Memoir of Growing Up Cult by Jayanti Tamm

Lists It Appears On:

  • Read It Forward
  • ICSA
  • Book Riot
  • Goodreads

“In this colorful, eye-opening memoir, Jayanti Tamm offers an unforgettable glimpse into the hidden world of growing up “cult” in mainstream America. Through Jayanti’s fascinating story–the first book to chronicle Sri Chinmoy–she unmasks a leader who convinces thousands of disciples to follow him, scores of nations to dedicate monuments to him, and throngs of celebrities (Sting, Pope John Paul II, Nelson Mandela) to extol him.

When the short, bald man in flowing robes prophesizes Jayanti to be the “Chosen One,” her life is forever entwined with the charismatic guru Sri Chinmoy, who declares himself a living god. A god who performs sit-ups and push-ups in front of thousands as holy ritual, protects himself with a platoon of bodyguards, and bans books, TV, and sex. Jayanti’s unusual and increasingly bizarre childhood is spent shuttling between the ashram in Queens, New York, and her family’s outpost as “Connecticut missionaries.” On the path to enlightenment decreed by Guru, Jayanti scrubs animal cages in his illegal basement zoo, cheerleads as he weight lifts an elephant in her front yard, and trails him around the world as he pursues celebrities such as Princess Diana and Mother Teresa.

But, when her need for enlightenment is derailed by her need for boys, Jayanti risks losing everything that she has ever known, including the person that she was ordained to be. With tenderness, insight, and humor, Jayanti explores the triumphs and trauma of an insider who longs to be an outsider, her hard-won decision to finally break free, and the unique challenges she confronts as she builds a new life.”

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12 .) Escape by Carolyn Jessop and Laura Palmer

Lists It Appears On:

  • Signature
  • Book Riot
  • Bookbub
  • Goodreads

The dramatic first-person account of life inside an ultra-fundamentalist American religious sect, and one woman’s courageous flight to freedom with her eight children. When she was eighteen years old, Carolyn Jessop was coerced into an arranged marriage with a total stranger: a man thirty-two years her senior. Merril Jessop already had three wives. But arranged plural marriages were an integral part of Carolyn’s heritage: She was born into and raised in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), the radical offshoot of the Mormon Church that had settled in small communities along the Arizona-Utah border. Over the next fifteen years, Carolyn had eight children and withstood her husband’s psychological abuse and the watchful eyes of his other wives who were locked in a constant battle for supremacy. Carolyn’s every move was dictated by her husband’s whims. He decided where she lived and how her children would be treated. He controlled the money she earned as a school teacher. He chose when they had sex; Carolyn could only refuse at her peril. For in the FLDS, a wife’s compliance with her husband determined how much status both she and her children held in the family. Carolyn was miserable for years and wanted out, but she knew that if she tried to leave and got caught, her children would be taken away from her. No woman in the country had ever escaped from the FLDS and managed to get her children out, too. But in 2003, Carolyn chose freedom over fear and fled her home with her eight children.

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11 .) Heaven’s Harlots: My Fifteen Years as a Sacred Prostitute in the Children of God Cult by Miriam Williams

Lists It Appears On:

  • Electric Lit
  • Cult Research
  • ICSA
  • Book Riot

“An explosive first-person account by a young woman who spent fifteen years in a sex cult called the Children of God, which encouraged “”sacred prostitution”” and taught that “”The Lord is our pimp.””
Miriam Williams was an idealistic child of the sixties who, at seventeen, accepted an invitation from a “”Jesus person”” to visit a commune in upstate New York. She would soon be prostituting herself for a perverse cult that used sex to lure sinners to the Lord — and this is her shocking, searingly honest account of a fifteen-year spiritual odyssey gone haywire.

The Children of God turned its female devotees into Heaven’s Harlots, leading strangers to the love of God by enticing them with the pleasures of the flesh. At its height, the cult boasted 19,000 members around the world: In such places as France and Monte Carlo, young women, Miriam among them, mingled with the rich and famous to save their souls, and in this unsparing, unnerving autobiography, she’ll identify some of her high-profile “”clients.”” She left this bizarre world in an attempt to protect her son, born through an arranged marriage and kidnapped by his father.”

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10 .) Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry

Lists It Appears On:

  • Read It Forward
  • Cult Research
  • Book Riot
  • Goodreads

In the summer of 1969, in Los Angeles, a series of brutal, seemingly random murders captured headlines across America. A famous actress (and her unborn child), an heiress to a coffee fortune, a supermarket owner and his wife were among the seven victims. A thin trail of circumstances eventually tied the Tate-LeBianca murders to Charles Manson, a would-be pop singer of small talent living in the desert with his “family” of devoted young women and men. What was his hold over them? And what was the motivation behind such savagery? In the public imagination, over time, the case assumed the proportions of myth. The murders marked the end of the sixties and became an immediate symbol of the dark underside of that era.

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9 .) Raven: The Untold Story of the Rev. Jim Jones and His People by Tim Reiterman and John Jacobs

Lists It Appears On:

  • Signature
  • Cult Research
  • Book Riot
  • Goodreads

“Tim Reiterman’s Raven provides the seminal history of the Rev. Jim Jones, the Peoples Temple, and the murderous ordeal at Jonestown in 1978.

This PEN Award–winning work explores the ideals-gone-wrong, the intrigue, and the grim realities behind the Peoples Temple and its implosion in the jungle of South America. Reiterman’s reportage clarifies enduring misperceptions of the character and motives of Jim Jones, the reasons why people followed him, and the important truth that many of those who perished at Jonestown were victims of mass murder rather than suicide.”

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8 .) Seductive Poison: A Jonestown Survivor’s Story of Life and Death in the People’s Temple by Deborah Layton

Lists It Appears On:

  • Goodreads
  • About Great Books
  • Book Riot
  • Cult Research

A high-level member of Jim Jones’s Peoples Temple for seven years, Deborah Layton escaped his infamous commune in the Guyanese jungle, leaving behind her mother, her older brother, and many friends. She returned to the United States with warnings of impending disaster, but her pleas for help fell on skeptical ears, and shortly thereafter, in November 1978, the Jonestown massacre shocked the world. Seductive Poison is both an unflinching historical document and a suspenseful story of intrigue, power, and murder.

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7 .) Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing up In a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs by Elissa Wall and Lisa Pulitzer

Lists It Appears On:

  • Bookbub
  • Book Riot
  • Goodreads
  • About Great Books

In September 2007, a packed courtroom in St. George, Utah, sat hushed as Elissa Wall, the star witness against polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs, gave captivating testimony of how Jeffs forced her to marry her first cousin at age fourteen. This harrowing and vivid account proved to be the most compelling evidence against Jeffs, showing the harsh realities of this closed community and the lengths that Jeffs went to in order to control the women in it. Now, in this courageous memoir, Elissa Wall tells her incredible and inspirational story of her time in the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), detailing how she emerged from its confines to help bring one of America’s most notorious criminals to justice.

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6 .) The Girls by Emma Cline

Lists It Appears On:

  • Panmacmillan
  • Electric Lit
  • Read It Forward
  • Goodreads

Northern California, during the violent end of the 1960s. At the start of summer, a lonely and thoughtful teenager, Evie Boyd, sees a group of girls in the park, and is immediately caught by their freedom, their careless dress, their dangerous aura of abandon. Soon, Evie is in thrall to Suzanne, a mesmerizing older girl, and is drawn into the circle of a soon to be infamous cult and the man who is its charismatic leader. Hidden in the hills, their sprawling ranch is eerie and run down, but to Evie, it is exotic, thrilling, charged, a place where she feels desperate to be accepted.

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5 .) The Witness Wore Red: The 19th Wife Who Brought Polygamous Cult Leaders to Justice by Rebecca Musser

Lists It Appears On:

  • Bustle
  • Read It Forward
  • Book Riot
  • Goodreads

Rebecca Musser grew up in fear concealing her family s polygamous lifestyle from the dangerous outside world Covered head to toe in strict modest clothing she received a rigorous education at Alta Academy the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints school headed by Warren Jeffs Always seeking to be an obedient Priesthood girl in her teens she became the nineteenth wife of her people s prophet 85 year old Rulon Jeffs Warren s father Finally sickened by the abuse she suffered and saw around her she pulled off a daring escape and sought to build a new life and family The church however had a way of pulling her back in and by 2007 Rebecca had no choice but to take the witness stand against the new prophet of the FLDS in order to protect her little sisters and other young girls from being forced to marry at shockingly young ages The following year Rebecca and the rest of the world watched as a team of Texas Rangers raided the Yearning for Zion Ranch a stronghold of the FLDS Rebecca s subsequent testimony would reveal the horrific secrets taking place behind closed doors of the temple sending their leaders to prison for years and Warren Jeffs for life THE WITNESS WORE RED is a gripping account of one woman s struggle to escape the perverse embrace of religious fanaticism and sexual slavery and a courageous story of hope and transformation

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4 .) Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche by Haruki Murakami

Lists It Appears On:

  • Panmacmillan
  • Book Riot
  • Electric Lit
  • Goodreads

“In this haunting work of journalistic investigation, Haruki Murakami tells the story of the horrific terrorist attack on Japanese soil that shook the entire world.

On a clear spring day in 1995, five members of a religious cult unleashed poison gas on the Tokyo subway system. In attempt to discover why, Haruki Murakmi talks to the people who lived through the catastrophe, and in so doing lays bare the Japanese psyche. As he discerns the fundamental issues that led to the attack, Murakami paints a clear vision of an event that could occur anytime, anywhere.”

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3 .) My Life in Orange: Growing Up with the Guru by Tim Guest

Lists It Appears On:

  • Cult Research
  • The Guardian
  • Goodreads
  • ICSA
  • Book Riot

“At the age of six, Tim Guest was taken by his mother to a commune modeled on the teachings of the notorious Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. The Bhagwan preached an eclectic doctrine of Eastern mysticism, chaotic therapy, and sexual freedom, and enjoyed inhaling laughing gas, preaching from a dentist’s chair, and collecting Rolls Royces.

Tim and his mother were given Sanskrit names, dressed entirely in orange, and encouraged to surrender themselves into their new family. While his mother worked tirelessly for the cause, Tim-or Yogesh, as he was now called-lived a life of well-meaning but woefully misguided neglect in various communes in England, Oregon, India, and Germany.

In 1985 the movement collapsed amid allegations of mass poisonings, attempted murder, and tax evasion, and Yogesh was once again Tim. In this extraordinary memoir, Tim Guest chronicles the heartbreaking experience of being left alone on earth while his mother hunted heaven.”

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2 .) Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk

Lists It Appears On:

  • Panmacmillan
  • Bookbub
  • Bustle
  • Read It Forward
  • Goodreads

Tender Branson—last surviving member of the Creedish Death Cult—is dictating his life story into Flight 2039’s recorder. He is all alone in the airplane, which will crash shortly into the vast Australian outback. But before it does, he will unfold the tale of his journey from an obedient Creedish child to an ultra-buffed, steroid- and collagen-packed media messiah. Unpredictable and unforgettable, Survivor is Chuck Palahniuk at his deadpan peak: a mesmerizing, unnerving, and hilarious satire on the wages of fame and the bedrock lunacy of the modern world.

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1 .) Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer

Lists It Appears On:

  • Bookbub
  • Read It Forward
  • Cult Research
  • About Great Books
  • Signature
  • Book Riot
  • Bustle
  • Goodreads

“This extraordinary work of investigative journalism takes readers inside America’s isolated Mormon Fundamentalist communities, where some 40,000 people still practice polygamy. 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.

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.”

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The 300+ Additional Best Books About People Living In Cults



 

#BooksAuthorsLists
(Titles Appear On 2 Lists Each)
27A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics and L. Ron. Hubbard ExposedJon AtackBook Riot
Cult Research
28A Place Called Waco: A Survivor’s StoryDavid Thibodeau and Leon WhitesonGoodreads
Book Riot
29A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Hope, Deception, and Survival at JonestownJulia ScheeresGoodreads
Book Riot
30American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty HearstJeffrey Toobin
Read It Forward
Book Riot
31Bounded Choice: True Believers and Charismatic CultsJanja Lalich
Cult Research
ICSA
32Children of ParadiseFred D’AguiarElectric Lit
Barnes & Noble
33Church of LiesFlora Jessop and Paul T. BrownBook Riot
Goodreads
34Churches That AbuseRonald Enroth
Cult Research
ICSA
35Coping with Cult Involvement: A Handbook for Families and FriendsLivia Bardin
Cult Research
ICSA
36Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lives to Take it All (or Almost All) of it BackFrank Schaeffer
Cult Research
Book Riot
37Cult Insanity: A Memoir of Polygamy, Prophets, and Blood AtonementIrene SpencerBook Riot
Goodreads
38Cults on Campus: Continuing ChallengeMarcia RudinICSA
Cult Research
39Cults, Conspiracies and Secret SocietiesArthur Goldwag
Read It Forward
Signature
40Destroying the World to Save It: Aum Shinrikyo, Apocalyptic Violence, and the New Global TerrorismRobert Jay Lifton
Cult Research
Book Riot
41From Slogans to Mantras: Social Protest and Religious Conversion in the Late Vietnam War EraStephen A. KentICSA
Cult Research
42GatedAmy Christine ParkerBookbub
Goodreads
43Geek LoveKatherine DunnFlavorwire
Barnes & Noble
44Heartbreak and Rage: Ten Years Under Sun Myung MoonK. Gordon NeufieldICSA
Cult Research
45Heaven’s Gate: America’s UFO ReligionBenjamin E. ZellerBook Riot
Electric Lit
46His Favorite Wife: Trapped in PolygamySusan Ray SchmidtBook Riot
Goodreads
47I Fired God: My Life InsideJocelyn R. ZichtermanBook Riot
Goodreads
48In the Shadow of the Moons: My Life in the Reverend Sun Myung Moon’s FamilyNansook Hong
Cult Research
Book Riot
49Influence: The Psychology of PersuasionRobert B. Cialdini
Cult Research
ICSA
50Inside Out: A Memoir of Entering and Breaking Out of a Minneapolis Political CultAlexandra Stein
Cult Research
ICSA
51Inside Scientology: The Story of America’s Most Secretive ReligionJanet ReitmanGoodreads
Book Riot
52Keep Sweet: Children of PolygamyDr. Dave Perrin and Debbie PalmerBookbub
Book Riot
53Lost Boy: the True Story of One Man’s Exile from a Polygamist Cult and His Brave Journey to Reclaim His LifeBrent W. Jeffs and Maia SzalavitzGoodreads
Book Riot
54Manson: The Life and Times of Charles MansonJeff GuinnBook Riot
Goodreads
55Misunderstanding Cults: Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial FieldBenjamin Zablocki and Thomas Robbins
Cult Research
ICSA
56Recovery from Abusive GroupsWendy Ford
Cult Research
ICSA
57Recovery From Cults: Help for Victims of Psychological and Spiritual AbuseMichael D. LangoneICSA
Cult Research
58Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for ThemselvesSteven HassanICSA
Cult Research
59Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist’s WifeIrene SpencerGoodreads
Book Riot
60Stranger in a Strange LandRobert A. HeinleinFlavorwire
Goodreads
61The 19th WifeDavid EbershoffBookbub
Goodreads
62The Boston Movement: Critical Perspectives on the International Churches of ChristCarol Giambalvo & Herbert Rosedale
Cult Research
ICSA
63The Chosen OneCarol Lynch WilliamsBookbub
Goodreads
64The Kingdom of CultsWalter Martin and Ravi Zacharias
About Great Books
Goodreads
65The LeftoversTom PerrottaBustle
Read It Forward
66The Patron Saint of ButterfliesCecilia GalanteBustle
Goodreads
67The Secret HistoryDonna TarttFlavorwire
Panmacmillan
68The Sound of Gravel: A MemoirRuth WarinerBook Riot
Goodreads
69The World in Flames: A Black Boyhood in a White Supremacist Doomsday CultJerald WalkerBook Riot
Electric Lit
70Thought Reform and the Psychology of TotalismRobert Jay Lifton
Cult Research
ICSA
71TranceChristopher SorrentinoBustle
Read It Forward
72Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence – From Domestic Abuse to Political TerrorJudith Lewis HermanICSA
Cult Research
73Triumph: Life After the CultCarolyn JessopGoodreads
Book Riot
74Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and ScientologyLeah ReminiBook Riot
Goodreads
75Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of the Way InternationalCharlene L. EdgeICSA
Book Riot
76When Men Become Gods: Mormon Polygamist Warren Jeffs, His Cult of Fear, and the Woman Who Fought BackStephen SingularBook Riot
Goodreads
77Women Under the Influence: A Study of Women’s Lives in Totalist GroupsJanja LalichICSA
Cult Research
(Titles Appear On 1 List Each)
781984George Orwell
Cult Research
79A Confederacy of DuncesJohn Kennedy TooleFlavorwire
80A Journey to WacoClive Doyle, Catherine Wessinger and Matthew D. WittmerBook Riot
81A Queer and Pleasant Danger: The True Story of a New Jewish Boy Who Joins the Church of Scientology and Leaves Twelve Years Later to Become the Lovely Lady She is TodayKate BornsteinBook Riot
82A Taste of Power: A Black Woman’s StoryElaine Brown
Cult Research
83Abode of Love: Growing Up in a Messianic CultKate BarlowBook Riot
84Adult Children of Parental Alienation Syndrome: Breaking the Ties that BindAmy JICSA
85Alienation and Charisma: A Study of Contemporary American CommunesBenjamin D. Zablocki
Cult Research
86Amity & SorrowPeggy RileyGoodreads
87Amway: The Cult of EnterpriseStephen Butterfield
Cult Research
88Anthropology of an American GirlHilary Thayer HamannFlavorwire
89Apocalypse: On the Psychology of Fundamentalism in AmericaCharles B. Strozier
Cult Research
90AsylumsErving Goffman
Cult Research
91Atlas ShruggedAyn RandFlavorwire
92Awake in a Nightmare—Jonestown: The Only Eyewitness AccountEthan Feinsod
Cult Research
93BacchaeEuripides
Panmacmillan
94Bare-faced Messiah: The True Story of L. Ron HubbardRussell Miller
Cult Research
95Beyond Belief: True Story of Faith, Denial and BetrayalMargot TeschBook Riot
96Bhagwan: The God that FailedHugh Milne
Cult Research
97Bitter Harvest: Gordon Kahl and the Posse ComitatusJames Corcoran
Cult Research
98Blood and Guts in High SchoolKathy AckerFlavorwire
99BlownLauren Halsted BurroughsBook Riot
100Blown for Good: Behind the Iron Curtain of ScientologyMarc HeadleyBook Riot
101Blue Windows: A Christian Science ChildhoodBarbara WilsonBook Riot
102Born and Raised in a Sect: You are Not AloneLois KendallICSA
103Born into the Children of God: My Life in a Religious Sex Cult and My Struggle for Survival on the OutsideNatacha TormeyBook Riot
104Brainwashing: The Science of Thought ControlKathleen Taylor
Cult Research
105Breaking Their Will: Shedding Light on Religious Child MaltreatmentJanet HeimlichICSA
106Call Me Evil, Let Me Go: A Mother’s Struggle to Save her Children from a Brutal Religious CultSarah JonesBook Riot
107Catch-22Joseph HellerFlavorwire
108Channeling into the New Age: The “Teachings” of Shirley MacLaine and Other Such GurusHenry Gordon
Cult Research
109CharismaCharles Lindholm
Cult Research
110Charisma and Control in RajneeshpuramLewis F. Carter
Cult Research
111Charisma and Leadership in OrganizationsAlan Bryman
Cult Research
112Charismatic Capitalism: Direct Selling Organizations in AmericaNicole Woolsey Biggart
Cult Research
113Child of Satan, Child of God: Her Own StorySusan AtkinsElectric Lit
114Christianity, Cults & ReligionsRose Publishing, Paul Cardin
About Great Books
115Cities on a Hill: A Journey through Contemporary American CulturesFrances FitzGerald
Cult Research
116Closing the GateDeb SimpsonBook Riot
117Coercive Persuasion: A Sociopsychological Analysis of the “Brainwashing” of American Civilian Prisonersthe Chinese Communists
Cult Research
118Commitment and Community: Communes and Utopias in Sociological PerspectiveRosabeth Moss Kanter
Cult Research
119Confabulations: Creating False Memories, Destroying FamiliesEleanor Goldstein, with Kevin Framer
Cult Research
120Corporate Cults: The Insidious Lure of the All-Consuming OrganizationDavid Arnott
Cult Research
121Counterfeit Dreams: One Man’s Journey Into and Out of the World of ScientologyJefferson HawkinsBook Riot
122Crazy TherapiesMargaret Singer & Janja LalichICSA
123Crossing Over: One Woman’s Escape from Amish LifeRuth Irene GarrettBook Riot
124Cult ChildVennie KocsisBook Riot
125Cult Proofing Your KidsPaul RICSA
126
Cult Recovery: A Clinician’s Guide to Working With Former Members and Families
ICSA
127Cult Survivor’s HandbookNori MusterICSA
128Cults in America: Programmed for ParadiseWilla Appel
Cult Research
129Cults Inside OutRick Alan RossICSA
130Cults: Faith, Healing, and CoercionMarc Galanter
Cult Research
131Damaged DisciplesICSA
132Darkness at NoonArthur Koestler
Cult Research
133Daughter of the Saints: Growing Up in PolygamyDorothy Allred SolomonBook Riot
134Daughters of Zion: My Family’s Conversion to PolygamyKim Wariner-TaylorBook Riot
135Destructive and Terrorist Cults: A New Kind of SlaveryMasoud BanisadrICSA
136DhalgrenSamuel R. DelanyFlavorwire
137Diary Of A Drug FiendAleister Crowley
The Guardian
138Divine Disenchantment: Deconverting from New ReligionsJanet Liebman Jacobs
Cult Research
139Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization, and Maintenance of FaithJohn Lofland
Cult Research
140DuneFrank HerbertFlavorwire
141Easily Fooled: New Insights and Techniques for Resisting ManipulationBob FellowsICSA
142Encyclopedic Dictionary of Cults, Sects, & World ReligionsGeorge MatherActs 29
143Ender’s GameOrson Scott CardFlavorwire
144Enlightenment Blues: My Years with an American GuruAndre van der Braak
Cult Research
145Escape from FreedomErich Fromm
Cult Research
146Escape from Utopia: My Ten Years in SynanonWilliam Olin
Cult Research
147Escape Through the Window: A Cult Survivor’s StorySarah RoseBook Riot
148Escape: My Life Long War Against CultsPaul MorantzBook Riot
149Exit Counseling: A Family InterventionCarol Giambalvo
Cult Research
150Fair Game: The Incredible Untold Story of Scientology in AustraliaSteve CannaneBook Riot
151Family Interventions for Cult-Affected Loved OnesCarol GiambalvoICSA
152Fear of FlyingErica JongFlavorwire
153Feet of Clay—Saints, Sinners, and Madmen: A Study of GurusAnthony Storr
Cult Research
154Fifty Years in Polygamy: Big Secrets and Little White LiesKristyn DeckerBook Riot
155From Dean’s List to DumpstersJim GuerraICSA
156From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, ed. and trans.H. H. Gerth and C. W. Mills
Cult Research
157Gated and AstrayAmy Christine ParkerBustle
158Gather the DaughtersJennie MelamedElectric Lit
159Generation XDouglas CouplandFlavorwire
160Getting Saved from the Sixties: Moral Meaning in Conversion and Cultural ChangeSteven M. Tipton
Cult Research
161Girl at the End of the World: My Escape from Fundamentalism in Search of Faith with a FutureElizabeth EstherBook Riot
162Girl on a Wire: Walking the Line Between Faith and Freedom in the Westboro Baptist ChurchLibby Phelps and Sara StewartBook Riot
163God Bless America: Strange and Unusual Religious Beliefs and Practices in the United StatesKaren Stollznow
About Great Books
164God, Harlem U.S.A.Jill WattsElectric Lit
165God’s Perfect Child: Living and Dying in the Christian Science ChurchCaroline FraserBook Riot
166Greedy Institutions: Patterns of Undivided CommitmentLewis A. Coser
Cult Research
167Group Psychology and the Analysis of the EgoSigmund Freud, trans. J. Strachey
Cult Research
168Ham on RyeCharles BukowskiFlavorwire
169Heaven’s Harlots: My Fifteen Years as a Sacred Prostitute in the Children of God CultMiriam WilliamsGoodreads
170Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts KidsMaia SzalavitzICSA
171Heresy of Mind ControlStephen MartinICSA
172Holy Candy: Why I Joined a Cult and Married a StrangerYolande BrenerBook Riot
173Holy War, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama bin LadenPeter L Bergen
Cult Research
174HopscotchJulio CortázarFlavorwire
175House of LeavesMark Z. DanielewskiFlavorwire
176Human Trafficking: Emerging Legal Issues and ApplicationsNora MICSA
177I Am ForbiddenAnouk MarkovitsBookbub
178I Can’t Hear God Anymore: Life in a Dallas CultWendy JICSA
179I Capture the CastleDodie SmithFlavorwire
180I, Tina: My Life StoryTina Turner, with Kurt Loder
Cult Research
181I’m Perfect, You’re Doomed: Tales from a Jehovah’s Witness UpbringingKyria AbrahamsGoodreads
182I’m Dysfunctional, You’re Dysfunctional: The Recovery Movement and Other Self Help FashionsWendy Kaminer
Cult Research
183IceAnna KavanFlavorwire
184Identity and the Life CycleErik H. Erikson
Cult Research
185Identity: Youth and CrisisErik H. Erikson
Cult Research
186In My Father’s HouseMin. S. YeeBook Riot
187In the Days of RainRebecca StottElectric Lit
188Infinite JestDavid Foster WallaceFlavorwire
189Insane Therapy: Portrait of a Psychotherapy CultMarybeth F. Ayella
Cult Research
190Inside al QaedaRohan Gunaratna
Cult Research
191Into The Light
Read It Forward
192Invisible CitiesItalo CalvinoFlavorwire
193It’s Not About Sex My Ass: Confessions of a Mormon Ex-PolygamistJoanne HanksBook Riot
194Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on EarthChris WareFlavorwire
195Jonestown and Other MadnessPat ParkerElectric Lit
196Jonestown Survivor: An Insider’s LookLaura Johnston KohlBook Riot
197Karma Cola: Marketing the Mystic EastGita Mehta
Cult Research
198KindredOctavia ButlerFlavorwire
199Kingdom of the CultsWalter MartinActs 29
200L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or MadmanBent Corydon and L. Ron Hubbard Jr.
Cult Research
201La-Bas (The Damned)JK Huysmans
The Guardian
202LanarkAlasdair GrayFlavorwire
203Leaders and Their Followers in a Dangerous World: The Psychology of Political BehaviorJerrold M. Post
Cult Research
204Leaving FishersMargaret Peterson HaddixGoodreads
205Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My FaithMartha N. BeckGoodreads
206Life and Death in ShanghaiNien Cheng
Cult Research
207Little Brown Girl: A MemoirCassidy Elizabeth Arkin and Sandra J. Rogers-HareBook Riot
208Little X: Growing Up in the Nation of IslamSonsyrea Tate
Cult Research
209Locked In: My Imprisoned Years in a Destructive CultJohn HuddleBook Riot
210Losing the Way: A Memoir of Spiritual Longing, Manipulation, Abuse, and EscapeKristen SkedgellICSA
211Love and Loathing: Protecting Your Mental Health and Legal Rights When Your Partner HasBorderline Personality DisorderRandi Kreger and Kim Williams
Cult Research
212Love Sex Fear Death: The Inside Story of the Process Church of the Final JudgmentTimothy WyllieBook Riot
213Lyndon LaRouche and the New American FascismDennis King
Cult Research
214Madame Blavatsky’s Baboon: A History of the Mystics, Mediums, and Misfits Who Brought Spiritualism to AmericaPeter Washington
Cult Research
215Marked for Death: My War with Jim Jones the Devil of JonestownTimothy Oliver StoenBook Riot
216Massacre at Waco: The Shocking True Story of Cult Leader David Koresh and the Branch DavidiansClifford L. LinedeckerBook Riot
217Masters of AtlantisCharles PortisFlavorwire
218Matches in the Gas Tank: TrialFire in the Armstrong CultBook Riot
219Memoirs of a Scientology WarriorMark Rathbun and Evie CookBook Riot
220Memory, Trauma Treatment, and the LawDaniel Brown, Alan WICSA
221Mesmerized: Powers of Mind in Victorian BritainAlison Winter
Cult Research
222Monkey on a Stick: Murder, Madness, and the Hare KrishnasJohn Hubner and Lindsey Gruson
Cult Research
223Moonstruck: A Memoir of My Life in a CultAllen Tate Wood
Cult Research
224Mother of GodLuna Tarlo
Cult Research
225Mr. Splitfoot
Read It Forward
226My Billion Year Contract: Memoir of a Former ScientologistNancy ManyBook Riot
227My Life in the KlanJerry Thompson
Cult Research
228Naked LunchWilliam S. BurroughsFlavorwire
229NeuromancerWilliam GibsonFlavorwire
230Night FilmMarisha Pessl
Panmacmillan
231NightwoodDjuna BarnesFlavorwire
232Not My Idea of HeavenLindsey RosaBook Riot
233Nowhere Girl: Growing Up DifferentNita ClarkBook Riot
234Obedience to AuthorityStanley Milgram
Cult Research
235Occult Roots of Nazism: Secret Aryan Cults and Their Influence on Nazi IdeologyNicholas Goodrick-Clarke
Cult Research
236On Charisma and Institution BuildingMax Weber, ed.
Cult Research
237On Social PsychologyGeorge Herbert Mead, ed.
Cult Research
238On the Edge: Political Cults Right and LeftDennis Tourish and Tim Wohlforth
Cult Research
239On the RoadJack KerouacFlavorwire
240One Door Away from HeavenDean KoontzGoodreads
241Opening Minds: The Secret World of Manipulation, Undue Influence, and BrainwashingJon AtackICSA
242Our Father Who Art in BedICSA
243Out of the Cocoon: A Young Woman’s Courageous Flight from the Grip of a Religious CultBrenda LeeBook Riot
244Outrageous Betrayal: The Dark Journey of Werner Erhard from est to ExileSteven Pressman
Cult Research
245Passionate Enlightenment: Women in Tantric BuddhismMiranda Shaw
Cult Research
246Passionate Journeys: Why Successful Women Joined a CultMarion S. Goldman
Cult Research
247Patty Hearst: Her Own StoryPatricia Campbell Hearst
Cult Research
248People FarmSteve Susoyev
Cult Research
249Pilgrim’s Wilderness: A True Story of Faith and Madness on the Alaska FrontierTom KizziaGoodreads
250Principles of Group SolidarityMichael Hechter
Cult Research
251Prisons We Choose to Live InsideDoris Lessing
Cult Research
252Property: The True Story of a Polygamous Church WifeCarol Christie and John ChristieBook Riot
253Prophet of Death: The Mormon Blood-Atonement KillingsPete Early
Cult Research
254Prophet’s Prey: My Seven-Year Investigation into Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day SaintsSam BrowerGoodreads
255Prophet’s Prey: My Seven-Year Investigation into Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day SaintsSam BrowerBook Riot
256Prophetic Charisma: The Psychology of Revolutionary Religious PersonalitiesLen Oakes
Cult Research
257Radical: My Journey out of Islamic ExtremismMaajid NawazBook Riot
258Recovering Agency: Lifting the Veil of Mormon Mind ControlLuna LindseyICSA
259Recovering from Churches that AbuseRonald EnrothICSA
260Red AzaleaAnchee Min
Cult Research
261Revisionism and Diversification in New Religious MovementsEdited by Eileen BarkerICSA
262Revolutionary Immortality: Mao Tse-tung and the Chinese Cultural RevolutionRobert Jay Lifton
Cult Research
263Roughing ItMark Twain
The Guardian
264Ruby Ridge: The Truth and Tragedy of the Randy Waver FamilyJess WalterBook Riot
265Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and MeRon MiscavigeBook Riot
266Satanism & Occult-Related ViolenceMichael DICSA
267Scientology: A to Xenu: An Insider’s Guide to What Scientology is Really All AboutChris Shelton and Jon AtackBook Riot
268Scientology: Abuse at the TopAmy ScobeeBook Riot
269Secrets and Wives: The Hidden World of Mormon PolygamySanjiv BhattacharyaBook Riot
270SeedLisa HeathfieldGoodreads
271Servant of the Lotus Feet: A Hare Krishna OdysseyGabriel BrandisICSA
272Seventeen Sisters: Tell Their StoryBarbara Barlow and Virginia WebbBook Riot
273SiddharthaHermann HesseFlavorwire
274Sins of the Father: The Long Shadow of a Religious CultFleur BealeBook Riot
275Sister WifeShelley HrdlitschkaBookbub
276Six Years with God: Life Inside Rev. Jim Jones’s Peoples TempleJeannie Mills
Cult Research
277Slavery of Faith: The Untold Story of the People’s Temple from the Eyes of a Thirteen Year Old, Her Escape from Jonestown at 20 and Life 30 Years LaterLeslie Wagner-WilsonBook Riot
278So Late, So Soon: A MemoirD’Arcy Fallon
Cult Research
279SpeedboatRenata AdlerFlavorwire
280Spiritual Abuse ResourcesICSA
281Spiritual Warfare: The Politics of the Christian RightSara Diamond
Cult Research
282Splitting: Protecting yourself while Divorcing a Borderline or NarcissistWilliam A. Eddy
Cult Research
283Spying In GurulandWilliam Shaw
The Guardian
284Station ElevenEmily St John Mandel
Panmacmillan
285Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled IdentityErving Goffman
Cult Research
286StonerJohn WilliamsFlavorwire
287Stop Walking on Eggshells: Coping When Someone You Care about Has Borderline Personality DisorderPaul T. Mason and Randi Kreger
Cult Research
288Stories from JonestownLeigh FondakowskiBook Riot
289SwayZachary Lazar
Barnes & Noble
290Take Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive RelationshipsJanja Lalich & Madeleine TobiasICSA
291Tears of the Silenced: A True Crime and an American Tragedy; Severe Child Abuse and Leaving the AmishMisty GriffinBook Riot
292Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious ViolenceMark Juergensmeyer
Cult Research
293Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants KillJessica Stern
Cult Research
294The Alexandria QuartetLawrence DurrellFlavorwire
295The Ashes of Waco: An InvestigationDick Reavis
About Great Books
296The Authoritarian PersonalityT. W. Adorno, Else Frenkel-Brunswick, Daniel J. Levinson, and R. Nevitt Sanford
Cult Research
297The Ayn Rand CultJeff Walker
Cult Research
298The Bible
The Guardian
299The Black BookOrhan PamukFlavorwire
300The Book Of MormonJoseph Smith
The Guardian
301The Boy Who Was Raised as a DogBruce Perry & Maia SzalavitzICSA
302The Catcher in the RyeJ.D. SalingerFlavorwire
303The Challenge of the Cults and the New ReligionsRon RhodesActs 29
304The Challenge to Heal: A Recovery Guide to Help Reclaim Your LIfe After Leaving any High-Control GroupBonnie ZiemanICSA
305The Channeling Zone: American Spirituality in an Anxious AgeMichael F. Brown
Cult Research
306The Church of Fear: Inside the Weird World of ScientologyJohn SweeneyBook Riot
307The Clan of the Cave BearJean M. AuelFlavorwire
308The Cult at the End of the World: The Terrifying Story of the Aum Doomsday Cult, from the Subways of Tokyo to Nuclear Arsenals of RussiaDavid E. Kaplan and Andrew MarshallBook Riot
309The Cult Next Door: A True Story of a Suburban Manhattan New Age CultElizabeth R. Burchard and Judith L. CarloneBook Riot
310The Cult Phenomenon: How Groups FunctionMike Kropveld & Marie-Andrée PellandICSA
311The Da Vinci CodeDan Brown
The Guardian
312The Defector: After 20 Years in ScientologyRobert DamBook Riot
313The Demon-haunted World: Science as a Candle in the DarkCarl Sagan
Cult Research
314The Dice ManLuke RhinehartFlavorwire
315The Discipling DilemmaFlavil Yeakley
Cult Research
316The FollowersRebecca Wait
Panmacmillan
317The Future of Immortality and Other EssaysRobert Jay Lifton
Cult Research
318The Girl Before
Read It Forward
319The God that Failed, ed. Richard Crossman
Cult Research
320The Gormenghast TrilogyMervyn PeakeFlavorwire
321The Guru Papers: Masks of Authoritarian PowerJoel Kramer and Diane Alstad
Cult Research
322The Harmonious Circle: The Lives and Work of G. I. Gurdjieff, P. D. Ouspensky and Their FollowersJames Webb
Cult Research
323The Illuminatus! TrilogyRobert Shea and Robert Anton WilsonFlavorwire
324The Joyful Community: An Account of the BruderhofBenjamin D. Zablocki
Cult Research
325The Light on SynanonDave Mitchell, Cathy Mitchell, and Richard Ofhse
Cult Research
326The Long Prison Journey of Leslie Van Houten: Life Beyond the CultKarlene Faith
Cult Research
327The MagusJohn FowlesFlavorwire
328The Manson GirlsMichael James DuncanBook Riot
329The Master and MargaritaMikhail BulgakovFlavorwire
330The Nazi DoctorsRobert Jay Lifton
Cult Research
331The Nazis and the OccultDusty Sklar
Cult Research
332The New Religious ConsciousnessCharles Y. Glock and Robert N. Bellah
Cult Research
333The Onliest One Alive: Surviving Jonestown, GuyanaCatherine H. Thrash and Marian Kleinsasser TowneBook Riot
334The Origins of TotalitarianismHannah Arendt
Cult Research
335The Other Side of Joy: Religious Melancholy among the BruderhofJulius H. Rubin
Cult Research
336The Perks of Being a WallflowerStephen ChboskyFlavorwire
337The PossessedFyodor Dostoyevsky
Cult Research
338The Presentation of Self in Everyday LifeErving Goffman
Cult Research
339The Private Memoirs and Confessions Of A Justified SinnerJames Hogg
The Guardian
340The Promise of Paradise: A Woman’s Intimate Story the Perils of Life With RajneeshSatya Bharti Franklin
Cult Research
341The Psychology of Attitude Change and Social InfluencePhilip G. Zimbardo and Michael R. Leippe
Cult Research
342The Road to Total Freedom: A Sociological Analysis of ScientologyRoy Wallis
Cult Research
343The Satanic BibleAnton S LaVey
The Guardian
344The Secret Lives of Saints: Child Brides and Lost Boys in a Polygamous Mormon SectDaphne BramhamBook Riot
345The Shelter Cycle
Barnes & Noble
346The Social AnimalElliot Aronson
Cult Research
347The Sorcerer’s Apprentice: My Life with Carlos CastanedaAmy Wallace
Cult Research
348The Spiritualists: The Passion for the Occult in the Nineteenth and Twentieth CenturiesRuth Brandon
Cult Research
349The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse: Recognizing and Escaping From Spiritual Manipulation and False Spiritual AuthorityDavid Johnson & Jeff vanVonderenICSA
350The Suicide CultMarshall Kilduff and Ron Javers
Cult Research
351The Sullivanian Institute/Fourth Wall Community: The Relationship of Radical Individualism and AuthoritarianismAmy Siskind
Cult Research
352The TestamentColm Toibin
Panmacmillan
353The True BelieverEric Hoffer
Cult Research
354The Unbearable Lightness of BeingMilan KunderaFlavorwire
355The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology Tried to Destroy Paulette CooperTony OrtegaBook Riot
356The Utopia ExperimentDylan Evans
Panmacmillan
357The Varieties of Religious ExperienceWilliam James
Cult Research
358The Verbally Abusive Relationship: How to Recognize It and How to RespondPatricia Evans
Cult Research
359The Year 2000: Essays on the EndCharles B. Strozier and Michael Flynn
Cult Research
360Them and Us: Cult Thinking and the Terrorist ThreatArthur J. Deikman
Cult Research
361TherapistEllen Plasil
Cult Research
362Therapy Gone Mad: The True Story of Hundreds of Patients and a Generation of BetrayalCarol Lynn Mithers
Cult Research
363Thinner Than Thou
Barnes & Noble
364This Dark World: A Memoir of Salvation Found and LostCarolyn S. BriggsBook Riot
365This Is Not a NovelDavid MarksonFlavorwire
366Thus Spoke ZarathustraFriedrich Wilhelm NietzscheFlavorwire
367TM and Cult ManiaMichael Persinger, N. J. Carrey, and L. A. Suess
Cult Research
368Traumatic Narcissism: Relational Systems of SubjugationDan ShawICSA
369Traveller in Space: In Search of Female Identity in Tibetan BuddhismJune Campbell
Cult Research
370Understanding the New AgeRussell Chandler
Cult Research
371V.Thomas PynchonFlavorwire
372Valley of the DollsJacqueline SusannFlavorwire
373Vivian Apple at the End of the WorldKatie CoyleBookbub
374Waiting for the Apocalypse: A Memoir of Faith and FamilyVeronica ChaterBook Riot
375WatchmenAlan MooreFlavorwire
376When Prophecy Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group That Predicted the Destruction of the WorldLeon Festinger, Henry W. Riecken, and Stanley Schachter
Cult Research
377When They Were Mine: Memories of a Branch Davidian Wife and MotherShelia Martin and Catherine WessingerBook Riot
378Why Did I EverMary RobisonFlavorwire
379Why I Left the Amish: A MemoirSaloma Miller FurlongBook Riot
380Wife No. 19: The Story of a Life in Bondage, Being a Complete Expose of Mormonism and Revealing Sorrows, Sacrifices and Sufferings of Women in PolygamyAnn Eliza YoungBook Riot
381Wife Number SevenMelissa BrownBookbub
382Wild Swans: Three Daughters of ChinaJudy Chang
Cult Research
383Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among UsRobert D. Hare
Cult Research
384Without Sin: The Life and Death of the Oneida CommunitySpencer Klaw
Cult Research
385Women, Sex, and Addiction: A Search for Love and PowerCharlotte Davis Kasl
Cult Research
386You Must Be DreamingBarbara Noel
Cult Research
387Youth in RevoltC.D. PayneFlavorwire
388Zen and the Art of Motorcycle MaintenanceRobert M. PirsigFlavorwire


15 Best Stories About Living In A Cult Book Sources/Lists



SourceArticle
About Great Books Top 10 Books About Cults
Acts 29 Recommended Books — Cults
Barnes & Noble 6 Novels About Freaky Cults
Book Riot 100 Must-Read Books About Life in Cults and Oppressive Religious Sects
Bookbub 14 Books About Cults & Controversial Societies
Bustle 9 Fascinating Books About Cults And Strict Fundamentalist Movements That’ll Get You Totally Swept Up In The Details
Cult Research Recommended Reading
Electric Lit 12 Chilling Books About Real and Fictional Cults
Flavorwire 50 Essential Cult Novels
Goodreads Popular Cults Books
ICSA Book List
Panmacmillan Eleven books about cults
Read It Forward Gripping Books About Cults
Signature Martha Marcy May Marlene’ Footnotes: Our Top 5 Books on Religious Cults
The Guardian Sam Jordison’s top 10 books on cults and religious extremists