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The road to Jonestown

The road to Jonestown (2017)

538 pages 4.0/5 Goodreads

In the 1950s, a young Indianapolis minister named Jim Jones preached a blend of the gospel and Marxism. His congregation was racially integrated, and he was active in the civil rights movement. Jones moved his church, Peoples Temple, to California and soon was a prominent Bay Area leader. Jeff Guinn examines Jones's life, from his affairs, drug use, and fraudulent faith healing to the decision to move almost a thousand of his followers to the jungles of Guyana. New details emerge of the events leading to the day in November, 1978, when more than nine hundred people died after being ordered to swallow a cyanide-laced drink.

Author: Jeff Guinn

ISBN: 9781476763842

Content Warnings

Identity & Discrimination

Racial slurs / racism (depicted) Religious persecution

Mental Health & Emotional

Death of a child

Other

Gaslighting / emotional manipulation Genocide / ethnic cleansing

Substance Use

Drug use (depicted)

Violence & Physical Harm

Child abuse / harm to children Gun violence Self-harm / suicide (depicted) Sexual assault / rape Torture
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