Jim Jones and Peoples Temple - The Road to Jonestown

At age 70, I well remember the news reports of the horror at Jonestown almost forty years ago. Stationed in Germany at the time, I pictured Jones, like Hitler, a charismatic leader taking his brainwashed followers to the grave.

Jeff Guinn was interviewed by Terry Gross on Fresh Air, leading me to this book. His was the first book on Jones I'd read, and thought none could possibly be better. (It might, though, be "Raven," by Tim Reiterman.) "Road" is the one to read if time is a concern, "Raven" to read to fill in details not covered in "Road."

However, three other books on Jim Jones and Jonestown are also needed to complete the picture. (Not that this tragedy/monstrosity can ever be adequately captured in mere words.)

1. "Seductive Poison: A Jonestown Survivor's Story of Life and Death in the People's Temple," by Deborah Layton.

Layton was one of many young people, troubled or idealistic or both, who were drawn to Jones. The value of her book is the picture from inside the belly of the beast. She shows us the devotion many felt to Jones, as well as the fear and brainwashing used to keep his followers under control. She writes well; this is a book that won't often be set down..

Layton's devotion continued for years even after being raped by Jones, publicly humiliated by Jones, and seeing her mother kept from her father by Jones. It was a devotion that persisted even after seeing the falsehoods and failings. Layton was not unique; her story speaks for many others.

Another valuable insight Layton's book gives us is the detailed description of her escape from Jonestown. One of Jones's most trusted aides, it was still terribly difficult for her to get free. Through her recounting, we better understand how others not as smart or connected were trapped. Jones had created a prison, one that didn't need walls or razor wire to keep its inmates from escaping.

2. "Raven: The Untold Story of the Rev. Jim Jones and His People," by Tim Reiterman.

"Raven" covers the same territory as "Road to Jonestown" but in more detail. (Sometimes too much detail, as what happened on the airstrip, sometimes not enough detail, as on Jim Jones's mother.)

Reiterman was an investigative reporter at the San Francisco Examiner, and was at the airstrip when Congressman Ryan was shot and murdered. Reiterman himself was injured.

Like Guinn's book, Reiterman's takes the long view, from birth to death, of Jim Jones. Almost 150 pages longer, with smaller font and nine more lines per page, "Raven" includes much of importance that "Road to Jonestown" doesn't. At the same time, "Road" has much more about Lynetta Jones, Jim Jones's mother, without whom we cannot begin to understand her son.

Not addressed by Guinn in his 2016 "Road" (and making his book indispensable) was what later happened to those who "swallowed Jim Jones's koolaid" -- they were committed socialists who thought Jones almost a god -- but didn't die at Jonestown. Reiterman does give us a little of this, but his book was published in 1982, just a few years after November 18, 1978. I'm so curious what happened to those, both the small number of defectors and the hundreds still loyal to Peoples Temple in California, after the catastrophe of Jonestown. How did people deprogram? What of those who never did? Do some feel guilt over their actions, and if so, are they perhaps involved in stopping other cults (like Scientology)? Question after question on the after-effects of this evil madman's power over so many.

3. "A Thousand Lives," by Julia Scheeres.

Has little about Jones before Jonestown -- for that, go to "Road" and "Raven" -- but maybe the best book on life at Jonestown.

More than other books, hers states the benefits many members found in Peoples Temple. Last words in book: "If anything, the people who moved to Jonestown should be remembered as noble idealists. They wanted to create a better, more equitable, society. They wanted their kids to be free of violence and racism. They rejected sexist gender roles. They believed in a dream. How horribly they were betrayed."

Inside covers have photos of 40 members of Jonestown, most of them mentioned in the book, helping us see the humanity of those who came there for a better life.

Better than other books, shows how mind control, sleep deprivation, beatings and guards with guns prevented escape, indeed prevented even small expressions of disagreement with Jones.

Also in contrast with the other books, Scheeres tells us about the lives of some of the survivors after Jonestown.

My recommendation is to read the books in the order I did: first "Road," then "Seductive Poison," then "Raven," and finally "Thousand Lives." (I've written reviews for each of the books except "Poison" at the store.)

You may also think of reading Tim Stoen's "Love Them to Death: At War With the Devil at Jonestown" but I cannot recommend it. (See my 2-star review.) As intelligent as Stoen is, as critical his role in the fall of Jim Jones, his book is badly written, and is less about Jones and Jonestown than it is about Tim Stoen and his many failures in judgment.

Also necessary -- to putting faces to names if nothing else, but more, to grasp a sense of the loss of life on November 18, 1978 -- is the documentary "Jonestown: the Life and Death of Peoples Temple" (PBS, American Experience, 2007). In only a couple hours, to include the valuable additional features, it cannot possibly include all the facts in the books, but it is imperative viewing, reminding us that a picture can indeed be worth a thousand words.

Finally, the website "Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Temple" is one we can stay lost in for months (at the risk of madness, I suspect), but should be visited at least once.

My readings have now led me to believe that Jim Jones as a young man may already have been mentally ill -- he was certainly strange -- but that he had genuine feelings of compassion for the least among us. Somehow that compassion became corrupt as he took his faith healings (fake, it goes without saying), his charisma, his organizational skills and his paranoia to create a cult, one that gave him sexual access to many young women (and some men) and power on a political, public and personal level.

It's clear that a good number of his followers, especially the poor older blacks and idealistic younger whites, were, at least at first, more than brainwashed zombies. They found in Peoples Temple and Jonestown the harbor of a better life, an expression of their hopes for an egalitarian society, an escape from dangerous slums, drugs, crime and racism, and a source of community and companionship.

Peoples Temple and Jonestown could seem a life of simplicity and brotherhood, with all needs met if one would only "believe" in the divinity of Jim Jones. But some eventually realized they had been caught by a vicious madman, in a net made of sleep deprivation, sexual abuse, beatings, threats of murder, and mind-control loyalty tests. Especially the mind control, which was ever-present. We may think the mass suicide/murders of November 18th were an explosive expression of temporary madness. No, we learn, November 18th had been planned and rehearsed, when followers of Jones were told the drinks they had just taken were poisoned, then assured they were not. Jonestown's grisly, tragic end had been both tested and forewarned.

Reading Guinn's and the other books, it is hard to imagine a larger number of sins contained in one person. Reverend Jim Jones was an adulterer, blackmailer, rapist, drug addict and megalomaniac. He was insanely paranoid, guilty of extortion, fraud, torture and murder. And yet he succeeded, for some to their last breath, in making his followers believe him to be god incarnate.

All the psychiatrists in the world can't explain the complexity of this man, but I'd so much have liked an attempt to have been made, perhaps as an appendix. Guinn briefly summarizes Jones in "Aftermath," the book's last chapter, and earlier in the book he gives us much information about Jones' parents (which "Raven" doesn't), especially his quite unusual mother, but neither is enough to grasp the essence of this man. Reiterman's "Raven" makes a longer, better attempt to explain the monster Jones became.

Jones performed faith healings to win followers for his Peoples Temple, using trusted church members as part of the act. While leading a church, he mocked Christianity, stomping on a Bible, in fact. He was a socialist if not a communist. And yet, his followers (mostly) forgave him. They believed he was a genuine believer in social justice and racial equality, and they worked hard for these principles in his churches and at Jonestown while forgiving Jones his many transgressions.

His perverted genius created Jonestown, a haven in the jungle for his flock far from an "insane" world. Tragically, his own insanity -- or evil, most would say -- destroyed Jonestown, and the lives of all who believed in him.

Jones should be more to us now than a freak show. The least we can do is learn from him to guard against other cults ever being seen again (with Scientology showing us the fight is never over).

I’ve been curious about Jonestown since the 1970s, finding myself fascinated in general about cults and repelled by the horror of Jonestown. I lived in Humboldt County, not all that far from Jones’s settlement in Ukiah, and we heard bits and pieces about the group (sort of like when we moved to Santa Cruz, hearing about the “red people”) – then the astonishing news when it all turned to hell in Guyana.

The book went WAY more in depth into the early years of “Jimmy” Jones, and TBH he creeped me out all the way back in Chapter 4 (of 52) when little Jimmy, not yet ten years old, was holding animal funeral services and exhibiting a serious fascination with the Nazis: “…he was fascinated with the Nazis, enamored of their pageantry, mesmerized by obedient hordes of fighting men goose-stepping in unison.” He “Studied Adolf Hitler intently, how he stood in front of adoring crowds for hours…”

In Jimmy’s hometown of Lynn, Indiana, a new Apostolic church opened up, featuring people speaking in tongues and “rolling around, babbling gibberish. It was wonderful entertainment.” Jimmy was always drawn to religions, and became a pastor at Community Unity church, a storefront operation that he worked hard to link with an established church. As years went by, Jim Jones became more and more a showman in his services, enlisting help from accomplices to demonstrate the miracles he could perform: as he “cured” a cancer of an audience member, his assistant would be in the audience “brandishing a bloody, foul-smelling lump clutched in a white cloth or napkin. Jones would declare that her was the cancer,” and encourage people to examine it (but not too closely, as it was extremely infectious. “Jones often engaged in the laying on of hands, commanding aches or tremors or chills to be gone—and usually, but not always, sufferers experienced instant relief.”

The name Peoples Temple came about after Community Unity bought property left when a Jewish congregation vacated it. “…the word “Temple” was carved in stone outside the building, and so Jones decided that the name of his curacy would reflect both its philosophy and the carving: Peoples Temple, not People’s, because the apostrophe symbolized ownership.” And Jones totally discouraged ownership of material possessions by his parishioners, urging them to give everything to the church.

One scam—rather, moneymaking operation, which Jones incorporated into building his empire, was that they “took over management of several nursing homes. These provided jobs for Peoples Temple congregants, and the money needed not only to pay for outreach programs, but also to promote them. Jones was able to purchase daily time on a local radio station,” and began expanding his outreach using media.

He paid close attention to Father Divine, and he “intended not only to emulate Divine’s ministry, but also to inherit his followers after the old man died.” Hoping to unite his Peoples Temple with Divine’s Peace Mission, he worked long and hard on the plan, but it never happened.

Throughout his rise from poor preacher to powerful leader of a huge congregation, we learn way more than we probably ever wanted to know about Jones’s peccadilloes and we see him at first veer off the path in his personal life, then flagrantly violate various Commandments as his life spiraled into a corrupt, vile mess filled with sex, drugs and real estate when he bought the property in Guyana. The Church incorporated physical punishment to keep followers in line, and he circumvented rules with situational ethics, as he “preached, and his followers believed, that the U.S. criminal justice system was corrupt, as well as rife with racism.”

He tried to establish his ultimate church in Los Angeles, but city politics and the geography of sprawling Southern California kept him from realizing his dream. Focusing his efforts on the San Francisco Bay Area, he offered grim sermons to his devoted followers, habitually using obscenities. “Temple members loved it – Father was talking like a real person, not acting prissy like so many pastors.” (at this point, I was reminded of the current political situation, and how a tyrant can easily dupe people into becoming blind followers – but that’s another story).

His paranoia, fueled by drug addiction, grew and spiraled further and further into madness. As events led up to the final confrontation with Congressman Ryan’s group in Guyana, it felt like there was no hope (of course, knowing how things would turn out, this was no surprise). “On that afternoon in Jonestown, when he told his followers that there was no other way, he believed it. As far as Jones was concerned, if he had come to some place that hope ran out, then so had they.” It was chilling to read about the times Jones told his followers they were drinking poison, and they DID IT, only to be told it was just an exercise. I imagine many of them thought it was just another exercise when they drank that poison on the final day.

Seriously, this book was upsetting. If I had not been committed to read and review it, I might have given up because the detail and relentless presentation of his horrific behavior began to feel overwhelming.

It is very extensively researched, and includes notes documenting sources. For anyone who really wants to know IN EXTREME DETAIL what happened to little Jimmy Jones to make him turn into the monster responsible for the deaths of so many who worshipped him, this is the book. It’s unsettling, no question, and I was relieved when I finished it – but I have to give it 4 stars just for the enormous work that went into it.

I have read many books about Rev. Jim Jones, Jonestown and the Peoples Temple but this is perhaps the best book so far among them. Jeff Guinn, the journalist and author, has compiled and perhaps provided the best account of the tragic story of a preacher from his youth to the catastrophic end on November 18, 1978. Guinn has spoken with survivors of the Peoples Temple and others.

The book is broken into three parts. The beginning unit covers Rev. Jim Jones' family background and upbringing in Indiana. Guinn provided the best background and history of Rev. Jim Jones to date in this section perhaps more than any other author. I found the information about his parents to be detailed and better help understand Jones' childhood. Jones and his mother would leave Lynn, Indiana for Richmond, Indiana where he would meet and marry Marceline Baldwin. They would move to Indianapolis where Jones would start his congregation. While in Indianapolis, Jones was instrumental to integrating African Americans into society.

Afraid of a nuclear holocaust, Jones, his family and his followers migrated to Northern California for Part Two in the book. There, Jones would enlarge his congregation with new recruits and others. In Northern California, he wanted more than and enlarged his base to include others. Perhaps in Northern California, he began his undoing as he became all too powerful. Jones began using extreme and harsh methods on his followers. This book goes into detail about his methods (warning not for the squeamish).

Part Three covers Jones and Guyana where he planned to have complete control of his followers in the isolated jungle of a South American country. Guyana was also his escape plan where he kept his followers under tight control until the tragic, catastrophic climax in the murders of over 918 lives.

For those of us, I found this book to be the best to date about Jonestown and what happened there. This book helps explain how this massacre happened on November 18, 1978. Jones was a demagogue but it didn't happen overnight. He began with subtle changes and demands over his followers until it was too late. If you wanted to understand what happened on November 18, 1978 in Jonestown, Guyana, this book covers the best to date.

DO NOT READ. THIS STORY GETS INTO YOU. to rephrase a scene from an old movie "Star Chamber":
"If you know nothing about Jonestown you're as pure as the driven snow; which is what you want to be. If you read this book you will lose that.

Forever."

Overly dramatic? Not even close. This book haunts, angers, saddens and rips your heart out. To get the full effect research all the online photos, tapes, unedited NBC archive footage on PT. Disturbing, Unforgettable Loss of Innocence. Sad and unfathomable. This book disturbs; you WILL be troubled. Jim Jones talked those people to death. After immersing myself in the Peoples Temple from the books, documents unedited film footage and audiotapes, I don't think a human being to date has spoken more words than Jones.
He preached for hours, held Jonestown meetings until the wee hours of the morning, ran planning commission meetings and the awful Catharsis nights ( some of these meetings are recorded, you can hear children and members talking of cutting up family members while Jones laughs like a hyena) as well as news reports and commentary played for hours on the Jonestown speakers throughout the camp.

For more insight on gripping detail Jeff didn't have space to include: Debbie Layton's escape in her book Seductive Poison; The Mills' book, Six Years with God details the skincrawling dysfunctional church in the states pre-Guyana and Mark Lane's Strongest Poison talks about the lawyers' escape into the jungle the last day.
I find his wife Marceline an interesting person; she resisted at the end.

Growing up, I had always heard the phrase, "Don't drink the Kool-Aid," but I had no idea where the phrase came from. As many idioms, I never thought too much about where it originated until I read The Road to Jonestown by Jeff Guinn and now the thought of it makes me sick to my stomach.

On November 18, 1978 the largest mass murder-suicide in American history occurred and 918 Americans lost their lives that day all because of one man, Jim Jones.

It has been 40 years since the Peoples Temple and Jonestown existed and Jeff Guinn really did his homework. This book is incredibly well researched and leaves no questions about Jim Jones as a person, how the Peoples Temple came to be, and their gruesome demise.

At times, this book was extremely hard to read. There are several situations in regards to Jim Jones sexual conquests which left me sickened and the obscenities from numerous quotes of people interviewed were hard to read as well. The author is an incredible writer and paints the picture so vividly that I caught myself several times audibly voicing my disgust at certain parts.

I was instantly fascinated by this story and absorbed this book in a matter of days. The entire time I was reading I continued to wonder how so many people could be duped into believing this man. My heart went out to all those people that were there to genuinely help make this world a better place. They fought for civil rights and equality and many followers believed they were doing God's work.

Jeff Guinn does an amazing job of pulling you into the story. The many quotes from eye-witnesses puts you there in the group which is both fascinating and disturbing. This story is definitely not for the squeamish.

If you've ever wanted to know the whole story behind Jim Jones and Jonestown this is hands down the book to read. "Why did this have to happen?" is the question that continues to run through my mind after reading this horribly sad story. The fact is, it didn't have to happen. Jim Jones had several things that happened that continued to put pressure on him and People Temple. These occurrences in Jim's drug-hazed and increasingly paranoid mind made him feel like he had no choice and his followers clearly had no choice. If he was going down everyone was going down with him. And sadly they did.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

A must read for Democrats and socialists in general. Socialism just doesn't work here in the United States. You must brain wash the downtrodden and the stupid of society to get their votes and make them believe your nonsense, much like Jim Jones did these people.

You probably know the expression... "don't drink the Kool-Aid." You may not know it was actually a cheap knock off called "flavor-aid" laced with cyanide that hundreds of people were forced to drink under threat of armed guards that fateful day in a South American jungle. Years ago I saw a short documentary on Jim Jones, but until reading this book I never knew the road to Jonestown was paved with good intentions. The Peoples Temple began with like minded people who wanted only to help the downtrodden, to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. Elderly people were housed in nursing homes by followers of Jim Jones where even if they could not afford to pay, were given care that met or exceeded state standards. Young people were given college educations that they never could have paid for on their own. They were made to feel that Jim Jones truly cared about them, and at first maybe he did. Then it all began to go horribly wrong. This detailed and factual account begins before Jim Jones was even born to a negligent mother who wouldn't allow him to be in the house when she wasn't home, and a sickly father who was too weak to stand up to her. It ends with the aftermath of murder and suicide that took 918 lives. If you ever wondered why or how so many people could allow themselves to be led astray this is the book for you.
I received an advance copy for review.

I read this book because I am interested how seemingly intelligent people become involved and then firmly entrenched in what is obviously to most people a gargantuan fraud. They voluntarily relinquished any control over their lives for what? While this book adequately explains what happened, it has no answers as to why. Perhaps there are no answers other than pea brains exist every where. I have no sympathy with any involved other than the innocent children murdered by their parents and the Congressman, reporters and their entourage who also had questions as to the sanity of these people.

In my opinion there are no explanations, no logic, only the certainty of self importance and superiority of these ridiculous people who surrendered their humanity to delusions of grandeur.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair review.

Years later, the Jonestown tragedy still fascinates me. Jeff Guinn has thoroughly researched this book, and I highly recommend it - both as a history lesson and just a plain good read.

I had no idea of all the GOOD that The Peoples Temple did - clothing the naked and feeding the hungry, as Jesus instructed Christians in the Bible. The final act of craziness in Guyanna overrode all that. In fact, "Don't drink the Kool-Aid" has become a cautionary statement, not to follow anyone too blindly. (BTW - I learned that the survivors really hate that saying). This book goes way back, to Jim Jones' parents and childhood, to show the forces that formed him. There are no pat answers here - we are still left wondering just WHAT drove Rev. Jones to that awful, final day. Was it mental illness? Egomania? Drugs? A mix of several factors? I like that the author doesn't try to come up with a final answer; just lays out the facts.

Reading this, you get to know quite a few of the members of the PT, both those lucky few who escaped or survived and the many who perished in the jungle. It's heartbreaking, but I was interested to see what kind of people would be crazy enough to die at this man's command - only to read they were NOT crazy, but very well-intentioned people who were trying to make the world a better place. Isolation, sleep deprivation, and other factors led to them being willing to take that final step.

This is the second book by Jeff Guinn I have read (the Manson book being the first) and I love how deeply he researches his subjects. I would recommend this book.

The book does a good job documenting the life of Jim Jones and the history of the Peoples Temple. I feel the author tries too hard to promote a "balanced view" and tell us all the good that People's Temple did: feed the hungry, shelter the homeless and help people with drug addictions. It's revealing to me that towards the end of the last chapter the author chooses to quote Jim Jones Jr., who says, "What I'd say about Peoples Temple is, we failed, but damn, we tried."
Tried what exactly? To manipulate and brainwash people, isolate them and alienate them from the rest of society and ultimately kill them? Peoples Temple was more that just a "failed" social experiment, it was a cult that resulted in the death of over 900 people. I think we can all be spared such experimentation.
Also, the author goes into great detail about how expensive it was for the Temple to run Jonestown. Prior to the last chapter the author tells us how the colony was losing money and was nowhere near being self-sufficient and that the People Temple thought of opening nightclubs in Georgetown, Guyana to raise funds. Then in the last chapter he contradicts himself, writing of Jones, that he, "...built and maintained a farm settlement that came very close to being self-sustaining."
Anyway, who cares if Jonestown was nearly self-sustaining? You still have 900 dead in the jungle all because of Peoples Temple and Jim Jones.
I am no more interested in the positive aspects of Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple, than I am in hearing of the good works of Stalin, Mao and Hitler.

Most people of "a certain age" remember the Jonestown tragedy -- a group of about 900 people living in a jungle settlement in Guyana who killed themselves by drinking poison-laced Flavor-Ade at the command of their leader Jim Jones. Younger people have probably heard about it.

But there's a whole "back story" that begins long before that fateful day. Jeff Guinn traces Jim Jones' life from childhood in a dysfunctional family through years as a solid backer of civil rights in 1950s and '60s Indiana and California. How did he wind up a drug-addled megalomaniac in the jungles of South America, ordering the killing of a congressman who flew in to investigate reported abuse? And why did his followers kill themselves en masse?

Guinn -- author of well-received bios of Bonnie and Clyde and Charles Manson -- dug deep to find the full story. He found documents that had not been released before and talked to people who knew Jones. And so the whole warped story comes out in this book.

I found it well-written -- as were the other two books I mentioned -- and fascinating, if a bit more detailed than I needed at some points. Jim Jones was a charmer who bent people to his will, up to and including having some of them murder for him. His fake "faith healings" fooled many, for awhile at least. It's a sobering story of how many people so desperately wanted to believe in miracles that they suspended their common sense to follow a deeply flawed man.

The only reason I don't give this book five stars is that I didn't really need to know quite as much information as this book provides. But still, it's a fascinating story about a tragedy that grabbed international attention almost 40 years ago. Of Guinn's four books -- I also read his book about the gunfight at the O.K. Corral -- Go Down Together, his book about Bonnie and Clyde, is my favorite. But all four are good, and give details about these subjects that I'd never read before.

No one going into this book should expect a happy ending, or a happy story. It is, after all, the story of Jim Jones, the man behind the mass murder/suicide that inspired the saying "drinking the Kool-Aid" (a misnomer, as the drink was actually Flavor Aid).

Knowing this, I had to admire author Jeff Guin for his ability to complete this book. The sheer amount of research he did for this book was enormous. Being touted as the book on the Jonestown Massacre, being entrenched in this kind of information for months if not years on end is no mean feat.

The story begins with the discovery of the bodies at the site of the massacre, located along the border of Venezuela and Guyana, by members of the Guyana Defense Force and the National Service. The tone of the book is dire, as expected, and the writing is somewhat dry, heavy with a lot of military and political details as various groups attempt to uncover what is going on at the site of Jim Jones's self named camp, Jonestown.

The narrative then backtracks in history to the early twentieth century and the early days of Jones's mother: her murky origins, her lofty ambitions, and her personal interactions as she tried to make something of her life and that of the child a dream had told her would be a great person.

This history, while it might seem extraneous when you consider what that Jim Jones is most well known for his actions as an adult, is fascinating because is shows another side to this person. For example, as a child he was odd but friendly, particularly with a neighbor, Myrtle Kennedy. He even kept in touch with her throughout his life, though his communications were not the whole truth of his actions. It's strange to think that someone that can inspire such tragic events as the Jonestown Massacre can show kindness to people, especially someone from his childhood that, really, he needn't have kept in touch with if he didn't care to.

An exhaustive work on quite the grim subject, Jeff Guinn has written a text that is unlikely to be surpassed in its depth of knowledge, its commitment. You're likely to know about the end of the story, but in order to understand how it was possible to happen, pick up The Road to Jonestown and take a step back in time to see where Jim Jones, head of the Peoples Temple and mass murderer, originated.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Disturbing and fascinating at the same time! The tragedy that took place at Jonestown in Guyana has continued to haunt American history since it took place in 1978. I had just entered my teens when it took place and I have always wondered why. What would make a man orchestrate the mass suicide of his devoted followers? I found some answers in this book. The author traces the life of Jim Jones all the way back to his childhood, which was strange in itself. The reader sees him grow up to be a man of high ideals and charming enough to draw others in to his vision of what society should look like. He always had a desire to improve the lives of the downtrodden, especially blacks, and in his early years as an adult his followers are deeply involved in their communities and in establishing programs that will improve lives, such as operating nursing homes for the elderly or drug rehabilitation programs. Many of his programs were applauded for their effectiveness.

As Jim Jones approaches middle age, he becomes very paranoid about conspiracies against him and this transition seems to mark the beginning of the end. I found this book to be very enlightening and the depth of the research the author conducted is to be commended. This is not just hearsay evidence being presented but actual accounts from survivors and Peoples Temple documents. I am highly recommend this book to readers whether you’re interested in Jonestown as an historical event, or looking for a greater understanding of what made Jim Jones the leader he was.

I knew very little about Jim Jones other than the obligatory jokes about not drinking the Kool-Aid and that he was the leader of a cult that committed mass suicide in the late 1970’s in Guyana. Like most things, there was a lot more to the story.

The story is an engaging and fascinating one. There are so many angles in this tragic event to explore and Guinn does a good job of setting the stage and giving as much understanding as possible of something that is so very hard to comprehend. Obviously, the book focuses heavily on Jim Jones and Guinn covers his life from his early childhood through to his death with detail. It is clear that Guinn has done his research. Jones started his career in Indianapolis, something I did not know, and I live in Indy now. Jim had a semi-rough start in life, but there are certainly folks who had it harder and no real basis from which to predict the outcome of Jones’s life. The most fascinating part of the story to me was that Jim Jones in these early days was really an agent for change and that he effected tremendous good in the communities in which he worked in Indianapolis. In his roles as a pastor of an Indianapolis church and as a director of the Indianapolis Human Rights Commission, Jones was instrumental in the integration of blacks and whites in the 1960’s. He did so with skill and energy and with great results. The recounting of this period by Guinn left me much impressed with Jones as a leader, as a humanitarian and as someone who cared deeply for those he ministered too. It is very easy to see why his followers became so devoted to him. He made things happen for his congregation and he followed through. It is easy to make promises and less easy to deliver. Jones delivered.

The suicides in Guyana in November 1978 were horribly tragic, but I would argue that Jim Jones going off the rails was also a tragedy. We can never truly know what demons pursued Jones and what made him paranoid and then turn to drugs, alcohol and sex further distorting things for him. But we do know that this change in him meant the loss of a great community leader who really made things better for the members of the People’s Temple in Indiana. Things went started to change for Jones when he left the Midwest and moved the church to California, abandoning a Christian message in favor of communism. He abandoned his Christian message in search of power, self-aggrandizement and money. The fuel for his search was a sense of persecution, paranoia and a misplaced trust in the noxiousness that is communism. It is easy to get the sense from Guinn’s telling that Jones could have been someone great, instead he was at best notorious and at worst evil.

Even knowing how the story ends, I was on the edge of my seat listening to the story play out. The narrator, George Newbern, had a great steady voice, so when he let the emotion through as he recounted what was recorded on the final audio tapes in Guyana it was very powerful. Even knowing that there was a mass suicide, I was completely unprepared for the numbers of dead. I was unprepared for the details on the tape recordings and how very sad and depressing it all was.

Sitting in the safety and comfort of my home, it is so hard to imagine ever going along with Jones’s plans. In telling the story of Jones and his followers, Guinn helps us see how it happened. With the benefit of time and distance, we reject in our hearts the possibility of even following Jones. Guinn reminds us that in a perfect storm of charisma, social upheaval, geo-political unrest and need such things are possible.

I'm old enough to recall as a teen gathering around at t.v late one afternoon to see camera footage, suddenly upended, of the attack on the runway on journalists and politicians who'd investigated rumors of abuse at Jonestown. This story interested me, but I did not think after reading Shiva Naipaul's "Black + White" aka "Journey to Nowhere" (1980). But that narrative was inevitably more impressionistic than investigative. Jeff Guinn, a Texan and a historian of the West, turns to the evidence, the archives, the followers, and the survivors for a detailed life and times of Jim Jones.

From the start in rural Midwest poverty, he invented tall tales. He finagled himself into a faith healer and a reverend, but this was a cover for his goal of a socialist, integrated, and egalitarian America. While he did force Indianapolis away from segregation, he bamboozled San Franciscan leaders into believing his con. Of course, hundreds did, and Jones exploited the wealth, women, and temptations.

Guinn has examined the incidents far more in-depth than apparently before. He has sufficient distance from the quickie "as told to" cash-in and self-published narratives by those who were at the end or in its vicinity. His careful examination of Peoples Temple records, tapes, videos, and witnesses appears to exceed at least for this casual reader the standards of most writers, and the time he takes to present fairly the successes as well as failures of what Jones and company set in motion is a cautionary tale.

Here's some excerpts from the later part of the book. These attest how Guinn handles this material as can be seen with sensitivity and honesty. From the last day, we see how a storm rose, the unwelcome delegation was set up for ambush, and the members of the Guyanese commune prepared. What is noteworthy and new to me is that we learn that trial runs and false alarms had been inflicted on Jonestown's rank and file, to test their loyalty and to ensure their dependence on those in charge there, as well as inciting paranoia which the addict Jones indulged in increasingly as the U.S. government turned his way.

“My opinion is that we be kind to children and kind to seniors and take the potion like they used to take in ancient Greece, and step over quietly, because we are not committing suicide. It’s a revolutionary act. We can’t go back. They won’t leave us alone. They’re now going back to tell more lies, which means more congressmen. And there’s no way, no way we can survive.” This shows the mood generated among those who encountered the delegation, and the dependence the followers had (no money in hand, isolation, weariness, poor diet, hostile jungle) to remain in place at the farm sites.

"A few people in the poison line thanked Jones for all that he’d done for them. His response was to call for more of the poison that would kill them." Some resisted, but Guinn notes that due to the rapid decay that set in among those dead, it cannot be ascertained exactly how many were held down and forcibly injected with poison or made to drink the Flavor-Aid concoction. Perhaps a third of those?

"We didn’t commit suicide. We committed an act of revolutionary suicide protesting the conditions of an inhumane world.” They tried for a heroic epitaph, another Masada, as Jones refused to capitulate.

"But the Jonestown deaths quickly became renowned not as a grandly defiant revolutionary gesture, but as the ultimate example of human gullibility." As the cult worshiped Jones as another messiah, and as he dominated their lives on the loudspeaker and as the enforcer as well as inspiration, dependence on his whim became the norm. Many children grew up in the Temple, and families (as in Scientology) shunned defectors as if damned. They had to return to the world with nothing, and this instilled obedience, not only to Jones but his circle of enablers, confidants, and con artists among themselves.

This conveys the mindset of those who obeyed Jones: "Teenage Candace Cordell scribbled a succinct message in ink on her forearm as she waited in line to die: 'Why couldn’t you leave us alone?'” Not Jones and his cabal, but their enemies, the U.S., and the media, were held up as the demonized foes.

One strange study after the events, by Guyanese planners, "concluded that Jonestown might still offer benefits to Guyana by becoming a tourist attraction or eventually being turned into a shopping mall." Instead, photos depict a few rusted ruins among a place reclaimed very soon after October 1978 by the rainforest. Only a few bits of a cassava mill survive, as well as a marker erected as a memorial.

Whom this commemorates may be left open, as after mass murders instigated by deluded or deranged agents. For "majority opinion held that all the dead were, in some sense, victims, including Jones, whose delusions, compulsions, or criminality—there’s considerable debate which—cost him his life."

Even the means of death did not prove accurate, the last story we've perpetuated as a catchphrase from the chaos. "Kool-Aid rather than equality is what the rest of the world remembers. The survivors are left to console themselves, and even find some pride in the sincerity of their effort." Guinn ends his own visit, at the conclusion of this worthy book, with dignity.

Those of us who were adults at the time of the Jonestown “massacre” will no doubt approach this book feeling there is little to be learned, but Guinn has taken his research to a higher level. I normally get bored with biographical works that spend way too much time on the subject’s childhood, but Jones’ early years definitely presage the future. Not the mass suicide, mind you, but Jones’ calling as a social activist. It turns out that Jones was not your typical Bible-thumping evangelist. In fact, through most of his adult life he disdained preaching about the Bible. For him, there were only two lessons to be learned from it: “Feed the Hungry” and “Clothe the Poor.” With his wife Marceline, together they built The Peoples Temple on these principles, and they did it brilliantly. After tireless struggles, Jones had it all: success, money, and respect. Unfortunately, his reach exceeded his grasp. The middle chapters of the book, where Jones is engaged in religious and governmental politics, drags from excessive detail, but the book comes alive again as we learn that Jones was a sexual predator on both sides of the street. Escaping the reach of the U.S. government was a key reason for building Jonestown in Guyana. Why Guyana? It was a racially mixed, young nation, politically neutral, and the only nation in South America where English was the official language. The goal was to carve a self-sustaining agricultural “Promised Land”, although the tropical paradise he promised his followers was in fact 3,000 acres of the densest jungle imaginable. Among the popular misconceptions Guinn clears up: the poison was mixed into Flavor-Aid, a cheaper version of Kool-Aid, and the church members did not drink it, it was squirted into their mouths through syringes.

This is an incredibly well researched book. The author did many interviews and must have spent a great deal of time researching. There was very detailed information about the life of Jim Jones before he started The Peoples Temple and his shenanigans while running the church. Of course, this level of detail led to a quite long book but it was mostly fascinating.

I knew the basics of Jonestown and what happened there. I knew very little of Jim Jones and what he did before. I learned a great deal of information about Jones and his family. The book starts with his parents and their lives growing up, then goes into Jim’s childhood. The reader sees how he got ideas about starting a church and how he went about recruiting followers. There were points in the book where I was very conflicted in my feelings about Jim Jones. I’ve always thought that he was a completely horrible person whose only claim to fame was getting over 900 people to die for him. When I read about his help of lower income and minority groups in Indianapolis. I couldn’t figure out how such a horrible person could do so much good in the fight for civil rights. I actually started to think that maybe he wasn’t quite as bad as I originally thought. Continuing on in the book took me right back to my original thought. Although he did many great things in Indianapolis for civil rights and the poor, his bad acts far outweigh the good he did. I was completely amazed at all of the appalling things he did to his followers, and yet they continued to follow. It’s truly frightening.

This book is not a light ready. It is very heavy material. It took me approximately 2 weeks after finishing to sit down and write this review. I had to give my brain and my sanity a break from Jim Jones. He was a horrifyingly fascinating person but I needed to get him out of my head. This book was very informative and interesting. My only complaint is at times it seemed like there was too much detail. There were areas that were more specific than I felt was necessary and at times the author would toe the line between interesting and too much information. Specifics were brought up about people that didn’t always pop back into the story at a later point in time. With the large cast of characters, it got difficult to keep track of who’s who so adding in specifics about people that we don’t see again just makes things more confusing. It was a big enough complaint that I brought it up to people I was discussing the book with, but not enough to detract much from my overall enjoyment. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the topic of Jones, or cult leaders, or true crime in general.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

Jim Jones grew up in thr rural area of Indiana. His mother told him he had "great potential." He read a great deal about religion because Jim had trouble making friends. Jim grew up during the depression era in a "shack without plumbing." Growing up made him feel like a social outcast. He was ordained a minister of the Disciples of Christ. He married. Jones led an interesting life. He was able to make people feel sincerity and warmth from him. The African Americans especially the poor and elderly were taken in by him. They gave him everything they owned to live under his care. At first, it did seem that Jim Jones had hopes to make the world a better place to live but something happened. What was it? He wanted to be remember for eliminating interracial discord.

Reading this biography of Jim Jones opened my eyes to understanding Jim and why what happen to him and his dreams besides the people he had in Jonestown. I admit that he reminded me of someone else in past history. I'll let you figure it out. It was an amazing book. I am so glad that I read it. Don't miss it.

Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book free from the author/publisher from Netgalley. I was not obliged to write a favorable review, or even any review at all. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.

This is a very well written book. I didn't think anything could compare to Raven, but this is pretty good. I am a California native, born in Oakland but raised in Los Angeles. I was only 13 when this horrible tragedy happened however; I can remember quite a bit about the People's Temple. In 2006, my uncle and I were just having a conversation, when he just broke down crying. He revealed to me that an entire family of our relatives perished in Jonestown. This tragedy touched a lot of people. Jim Jones and his most loyal hinchmen, were truly maniacs.

I had previously read Guinn's book on Charles Manson and continue to think it's one of the best books I've read this century. When I saw this new book on Jim Jones, I just knew it was a must-read for me. Jones and Manson are similar in that they were both cult leaders and thought they were God, but the similarity ends there. I really knew little about Jones before reading this book, even though I've seen 2 TV documentaries on him this year alone. Guinn's book delves deep into the person Jones was before he became egomaniacal. This is something mostly left out of his history. I was amazed to find out that he wasn't religious but rather communist, that he was a successful politician early on and did a lot for the poor and ending segregation in Indianapolis. It's hard to say but he did a lot of good in his life. This book is written in an engaging manner and flows like a novel. Guinn unravels the story of a very complicated and delusional man. Finally, he poses the question, was Jones always evil or did he become that way over time? I'm impressed with Guinn as an author and have already ordered his earlier book on Bonnie and Clyde, a subject I am deeply interested in. I'm only giving this a four as I have to compare it to "Manson", which is the better book.

This book is so detailed and interesting if you're a fan of True Crime. It talks about Jones's childhood, his early days as a Methodist pastor, his compound in California, and his fateful trip to Guyana where the deaths occurred. This book opened my eyes so much. I thought this was a cult of crazed people, but the book shows how Jim Jones was a monster. He drugged and raped young women in his church, took parents away from their children, and forced parents to poison their children and watch them die. The entire situation is unbelievable; I had to stop while I was reading often to remind myself this actually happened. That being said, because the book is so detailed, it is very slow to read, and some of the middle parts are hard to get through.

I received a free advance review e-copy of this book and have chosen of my own free will to post a review. This is a carefully researched and very well written biography of Jim Jones and The People’s Temple. He was obsessed with religion and everything about his life was dysfunctional but he had charisma and knew what buttons to push in order to get people to blindly follow him and do his bidding. Jim Jones was a major manipulator right from the beginning. This is the story of Jim Jones with complete details of his life from childhood until death. ‘The Road to Jonestown’ may have been paved with good intentions in the beginning but ended in disaster. This book is well worth the read.

I knew very little about Jim Jones and Jonestown before reading this book so I could not understand the true horror of everything that happened and what led up to it. Guinn does his best to cover all aspects of Jim Jones' life and what made him. Guinn gives details about Jones' family life from how his parents met, his birth, and his mother's belief that she was going to have a son who was some kind of god. Guinn follows Jones from his beginnings as a civil rights activist all the way to when he ordered the deaths of his followers. The notes are detailed, the interviews are tragic, but Guinn gives too much gory detail. He does not sugar coat anything but he handles this material with care and respect. If you are curious about details of the Peoples Temple and what happened then this book is a good place to start.

I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.

What a wonderful read. This rather exhaustive, encyclopedic look at Jim Jones's life covers it all, from his parents to his birth, to his "ministry" to ultimately his death. If you want to learn more about Jim Jones's life, read this book! It seems to be as fairly written as possible, offering questions and descriptions where certainty is not known.

There is another wonderful book on this topic, Julia Scheeres's A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Jonestown. I would recommend that you read the Jeff Guinn book first and then Ms. Scheeres's book second. She provides fantastic insights into the thinking and psychology that took place in Jonestown itself. Each book adds to our understanding of what ultimately will remain a confounding tragedy.

This is definitely a worthwhile read for anyone interested in Jonestown, The Peoples Temple, cults, etc. The detailed layout of the rise and fall of Jim Jones and his church is fascinating. The book explores not just "who" and "what," but also the "how" and "why" of the Peoples Temple. How did Jones attract followers and convince them to move into the jungle and commit mass suicide? Why would anyone follow him? Why was the ultimate order (to kill Ryan or themselves) given. Who were his followers? Who stayed,who left, who turkey believed, and why? The Road to Jonestown is an intense, dense read but well worth the time and effort.

In 1978, over nine hundred people in the small Latin American country of Guyana were found dead by government soldiers, the result of a mass suicide. The location of their demise, Jonestown, now epitomizes the type of self-destruction instigated by religious cults in the second half of the twentieth century. A new book, The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple by Jeff Guinn, traces the life and work of Jonestown’s founder and destroyer.

James Warren Jones was born to James Jones, a disabled World War One veteran, and Lynetta Putnam in Indiana in 1931. From his first day, Jones’ life was bound to be chaotic. His father had a history of depression because of the physical scarring his lungs endured after a gas attack and his subsequent inability to work. Jones’ mother, on the hand, was a spiritualist who expressed delusions of grandeur and later espoused a belief she had given birth to the messiah. Unsurprisingly, Jones became known throughout his childhood as having an ability to exaggerate and would frequently act in bizarre ways (e.g. never speaking to someone unless he addressed them first) to garner attention. In his early teenage years he started attending a variety of evangelical churches where he picked up a talent for oratory and a dramatic flair that would serve him well later on. In later recordings and writings, however, Jones admitted he was never a traditional Christian and was merely using religion’s appeal to obtain power. While from others than might be a sign of repentance or a late-in-life attempt at honesty, for Jim Jones it was only another example that to him deception was perfectly acceptable to achieve what he wanted because he was the only one that mattered.

At the same time, he also became increasingly involved in political activism. Attending meetings of socialist and communist groups in Indianapolis, Jones developed a vision of religious communitarianism with him as leader. He also began to advocate for integration and increased civil liberties for minority groups, one of the few admirable things in his career. His early efforts in the 1950s as an itinerant tent preacher were largely unsuccessful, but by the early 1960s he developed a substantial following. Like many other cults, his group frequently changed names, doctrines, and locations. Eventually he settled on the name Peoples Temple. After a brief foray in Brazil, Jones returned to the United States and shifted his ministry to California, eventually settling in the San Francisco Bay area.

While Jim Jones always displayed a streak of paranoia, it was in California that his psychosis would fully blossom. Due to the Peoples Temple’s large membership and active participation in Democratic campaigns, Jim Jones received significant attention from local politicians, many of whom would later achieve national prominence. While many discerned an oddness to Jones, his value made them ignore the warning signs. Jones’ increasing power fed the worst parts of his character and by the early 1970s rumors began to circulate of his abuse of church staff of both genders, prolific drug consumption, and dictatorial tactics to prevent members of the congregation from leaving. To avoid further investigation from the government, Jones and nearly a thousand of his most devoted followers relocated to Guyana, a former British colony with limited governmental authority and vast stretches of jungle that provided the isolation Jones desired.

It was here that Jones reached his greatest tyranny. His disciples would be subjected to hours-long rants on a variety of subjects, each with an underlying theme of the world’s imminent doom and his own persecution, and the compound broadcast recordings of his sermons at all other hours of the day. Like in California, members were assigned tasks for each and every hour of the day in an attempt to keep them exhausted and deprive them of time for independent thought. The families of Peoples Temple members became increasingly concerned and a California congressman, Leo Ryan, brought staff and reporters with him to inspect the compound. Jones at first refused them admission, but when Ryan threatened to show the world his isolation, Jones relented and a few of the entourage toured the facility. Some approached Ryan and requested to return to the United States with him. After they left for the airport to begin the return home, Jones feared an impending exodus of other members and ordered his militia to follow the congressional group. At the airport tarmac, the group was fired upon, resulting in Congressman Ryan and others being killed.

Jones now realized there was no going back and ordered his members to prepare to commit suicide. Despite the common perception that the drink laced with poison was Kool-Aid, it was actually a cheap knockoff. Much more serious, however, were the victims. Of the nine hundred killed, only about one-third were healthy adults. The rest were either young children or the elderly who had little ability to say no, when the only means of escape was walking out into the jungle. Jones was too cowardly to die a slow death, though, instead putting a pistol to his head and pulling the trigger.

To this day, Jonestown and its repercussions are etched in American popular memory. “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid” is a common turn of phrase and virtually every other modern cult leader is compared or contrasted with Jim Jones. While the prose in this book is flat and unmemorable, the author has performed an admirable job tracking down survivors and witnesses to Jones’ life. Like his previous book on Charles Manson, Mr. Guinn has chosen a subject whose ego was an eggshell and whose hollow core left no hint of a soul. Hopefully in the future people will note early the warning signs of the next potential Jim Jones.

I remember this event so well. So shocking; just mind boggling that so many people could have followed a leader so blindly, that they were even willing to kill their own children and themselves (some) because of their leaders paranoia. I've read books about the event and even watched some specials on tv, but Jeff Guinn's book contains more info than any I've ever heard or read. Excellent book.
In the interest of clarity, I received an advance Kindle copy of this book from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

“Don’t drink the Kool-Aid” may be the most famous reference that rose from the Peoples Temple and Jonestown, but the common interpretation of it --- namely, that one should be wary of what one buys into --- significantly reduces the complexity of the community’s history. THE ROAD TO JONESTOWN is a detailed account of the temple from the early days of its leader in Indiana to the famous massacre of over 900 people in Guyana.

The book is a compelling read. Naturally, there’s a desire to unearth all of the bizarre and unattractive elements of Jim Jones and his temple, and there’s plenty there. But much of the book details the state of affairs in the United States that led to the temple’s organization, and how much the temple focused on its mission of racial integration and the social betterment of those lacking privilege. Author Jeff Guinn makes clear that these efforts were what attracted so many of the temple’s members. Many were idealists guilty of their own privilege, others were those who had benefited from the temple’s services and wanted to give back.

The temple’s efforts had genuine impact; they included enforcing integration throughout all levels of the temple, putting deserving students through higher education, providing care and companionship to the elderly, and rehabilitation programs. Most of these efforts were focused in areas of large cities (Indianapolis, San Francisco and Los Angeles) where such services were otherwise impossible to obtain.

Of course, there was the religious aspect as well, although it seems clear even from an early age that Jim Jones viewed religion more as a vehicle for socialism than as a belief system by which he lived. He was completely willing to manipulate members’ religious and social beliefs to support his agenda --- using staged miraculous healings and mind-reading to convince people to obey him, and sex to personally control and attach followers to him. His success and megalomania led him into a cycle of fabricating schemes to further concentrate his power, and becoming afraid of losing power from the backlash against these schemes.

It’s easy to hear the cautionary tale of Peoples Temple and quickly grasp the dangers of a population of vulnerable people in the clutches of a worshipped leader. But though the temple provides an extreme example of such a situation, we should challenge ourselves not to be dismissive of its lessons. Not all participants were weak-willed or defenseless. As evidenced by the temple’s significant monetary assets and the extensiveness of the community, painstakingly accounted for by Guinn, there were many members who capably made and executed plans at a large scale.

While sacrificing their lives (and, most personally disturbing, their infants’ and children's lives) seems an irrational, completely misguided action, temple members may not have seen it as much more to ask than pooling their resources to fund struggling community members. In an isolated society, founded on sacredly held ideas that are served daily, is it crazy to take another action in a long list of requests that have taken you to where you are --- perhaps where you are proud to be? A disenfranchised population, feeling harassed and misunderstood, considered extremists by outsiders, decides to take a stand --- symbolic or otherwise. The action they take is sickening. But doesn’t that sound a little familiar?

Reviewed by Rebecca Kilberg

The charismatic Jim Jones was able to convince his many, many followers to give him all of their money, share their wives, partners and daughters with him, and finally give him their lives – more than 900 lives.

What a disturbing and outrageous story about a disturbing and outrageous man. Jeff Guinn did a thorough, in depth study of the very fascinating Jim Jones. But the man Jim Jones presented to his followers was not the manipulative, man he really was.

What I like most about this book is Mr. Guinn’s presentation of facts. Not once did I feel he was trying to sway my thinking. Well done.

The Road to Jonestown is the biographical account of mass-murder cult leader Jim Jones. This is an in-depth view of the man and the largest murder-suicide in American history.
This book was an excellent view into the life of a horrible man that caused a horrible tragedy. The author takes you on a journey that makes you feel as if you’re watching everything as it happens. I highly recommend for anyone that likes true crime.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

In my opinion this was a very good book that I would definitely read again. Jeff Guinn says that he really wanted to tell the true story of what happened at Jonestown and I believe he did exactly that. I had already knew about the incident at Jonestown and by the time I finished reading I was truly in awe at the way Guinn told the story so clearly. The novel starts at the beginning of Jim Jones life and follows him till the end. By incorporating stories from his childhood and his characteristics Guinn really gives you a clear picture of what Jones truly believed. Exploring the different people in his life and the effect they had on Jim Jones or the Temple was another thing he focused on. Using books and interviews from members of Peoples Temple, Guinn went in depth on how they felt about Jones. I was impressed with Guinns ability to capture, for the reader, how much control Jones had over the members. Reading what these people actually said gave the book a personal touch and really gave you a good sense on the emotion of the chapter. While reading you learn why Jones honestly believed in what he was doing. Quinn’s writing intrigued me so much that I sailed through the book.
However, I did feel that the book started out slow as it talked about Jim’s mother and father. Already knowing about this event made me want to keep reading. Although I did appreciate all the information I felt that it could have been more balanced between the chapters. I felt that the chapters on Jim Jones childhood could have been shortened by focusing on the really important parts of his childhood. Guinn wrote quite a bit about relatives of Jim’s father and other family members. I think that some of the things that were written were repetitive and unnecessary. I felt that he mentioned to many names throughout the chapters. It was hard to follow along, I had to go back to remember who they were. There were parts of chapters I felt lost and I was confused as to what was going on. When Quinn would write about political or financial things related to the church I felt it was hard to understand
Even with the things I thought were unnecessary I still very much enjoyed the novel up till the end and I would definitely recommend reading it.

I should probably wait until the book is almost done to write a review, but 3 chapters in and I'm bored to tears after a prologue that was riveting. There is too much backstory on Jim's mother and father. Perhaps this was purposeful though to distinguish this book from the other books about Jim Jones and the People's Temple.

Very thoroughly researched book — this is the Helter Skelter of the Peoples Temples story. The first third was a lot of background story, which was necessary but not as engaging, so it took me a while to get going. I enjoyed the examination of the story with the benefit of time to offer some perspective.

Kudos to Jeff Guinn for telling a story that has been long over due for a complete history. I would gather than most Americans in their mid 40s and up know all about Jonestown. But here we are and the story is almost entirely missing from any historical narrative of the era. Even less is known about the People's Temple. The story here goes into great detail about the start and progression of the temple from an organization ahead of its time on racial equality to the very meaning of the word cult. Guinn is able to tell the history and very subtly lead us along Jim Jones' laps into demagoguery. He does a great job demonstrating how much support Jones had almost to the very end. The part about the last 48 hours of the Temple is compelling without lapsing into to much gore.

This is a must read for anyone with a passion for history!

The Jonestown Massacre and all that went before has fascinated me a very long time. It happened not long after I was married and we were transfixed with the news reports about this. I've read several books on the subject, books just on Jim Jones and watched movies and many documentaries on the subject as well. When I saw this book, I immediately wanted to read it. Well written and factual, it will be added to those books about this subject I am sure to refer to in the future.

*I was given a copy of this book by Net Galley. I was not pressured to leave a positive review. My opinions are my own.

A meticulously researched and detailed account of Jim Jones and his Peoples Temple, and the horrific massacre at Jonestown. Thoroughly accessible, although the exhaustive detail makes for a slow read, I found the book compelling, clearly written and balanced in its approach. Highly recommended.

I chose to read this book because I didn't really know a lot about the Peoples Temple. All I really knew was that they were a cult, they moved their family to Guyana, they killed Senator Leo Ryan and several media when they tried to interfere and 900 of men, women and children drank the kool-aid and died.

This book (I had no idea it was as long as it was) definitely was well researched. There was a lot of information included in this book. I am going to keep my personal opinions to myself regarding Jim Jones and his followers.

I do have to say that when I looked down at my Kindle and saw that the reading time was expected to be 16 hours, I was like "what?". Then there was one time when the book started naming people and they named like 10 people (not really the main people but others) and I thought if they are naming all 900, I'm skipping a lot of pages. However, the book did not do that.

I think for the most part, I found the book interesting. It was amazing that one man could get so many people to follow his lead. They knew his healing abilities were a joke.

This was a most informative book of Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple. I found it very interesting, very shocking and very sad.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster for approving my request and to Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is mostly composed of what I can only describe as administrative details of Jim Jones's People Temple. Pages and pages and pages of unimportant, forgettable detail. The move to Jonestown, where 900 Americans would meet their tragic end in the Guyanese jungle at the orders of their cult leader, doesn't even happen until 350 pages into the book. The murder/suicide itself gets crammed into about 3 paragraphs. I don't understand why this author chose to prioritize the irrelevant and gloss over the significant. I would not recommend this. I gave this book 2 stars-- the third star is for me for slogging through this (my husband got me this as a Christmas present, so I was more or less contractually obligated).

dem·a·gogue

[ˈdeməˌɡäɡ]

NOUN

a political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular desires and prejudices rather than by using rational argument.

synonyms: rabble-rouser · agitator · political agitator · soapbox orator· firebrand · fomenter · provocateur

Apparently I missed the sub-subtitle "A Children's Book" as this was clearly written for ages 6-10. The author, Jeff Guinn, has absolutely no concept on how to string a group of sentences together in a coherent and pleasantly narrative fashion. After 18 pages, I had had enough and promptly returned the book to the library. The number of sentences in the book could have easily been reduced by at least 60% and I can only imagine that the author inserted periods by composing each page sans punctuation, clipping it to a clothesline, and then firing #9 bird shot at it.

Example: "The town assimilated them easily enough. Most had relatives or friends already living there. Newly arrived husbands took factory work in Winchester or Richmond, the nearest big towns. Young mothers kept house and raised children."

Easy fix with a little effort: "The town assimilated them easily enough, as most had relatives or friends already living there, with newly arrived husbands taking factory work in Winchester or Richmond, the nearest big towns, while young mothers kept house and raised children."

See how easy that was, Mr. Guinn!? I know that many may not find issue with this, but when I read, my thoughts flow with the writing and the frenzied use of periods and average sentence length of 6-8 words created a staccato effect in my brain that I could not handle. There are much better works on Jim Jones, Jonestown and the tragedy of the lives lost such as Seductive Poison and Raven.

I know I mentioned only reading 18 pages, but I flipped through multiple other sections and found the same issue persistent throughout. Others have commented that the book is well researched and I will admit that, compared to Raven and Seductive Poison, there are myriad more details in The Road to Jonestown. However, I would argue that the majority of detail provided offers nothing more to the story, does not enlighten the reader to the course this tragic situation took and merely doubles the number of pages.