The Road to Jonestown
2017 • 544 pages
Ratings9
Average rating4.6
15
Ratings9
Average rating4.6
A portrait of the cult leader behind the Jonestown Massacre examines his personal life, from his extramarital affairs and drug use to his fraudulent faith healing practices and his decision to move his followers to Guyana, sharing new details about the events leading to the 1978 tragedy.
Reviews with the most likes.
Jeff Guinn seems to think it is his responsibility to report with extreme facticity, even when (especially when) the topic is as profoundly wrong as Jonestown. However, I do fear that this left something out. And by the time of the massacre it felt like the book had run out of steam. The aftermath/discussion section was woefully short, which is a shame since the rest of the book was so even. Once it began to leave the realm of historical fact, Guinn balked. So I guess I'd say this was a great read, but it might be bad to be your only read on Jonestown, and at least for myself it likely will be.
There's not a lot new here if you're familiar with Jim Jones and Jonestown. It's really well done and detailed though, so still very interesting!
