The Penguin Book of Cults

A chilling documentary history of the most notorious cults of the past two thousand years, from the Celtic druids whose ritual sacrifices inspired the folk horror film A Penguin Classic The word “cult” conjures images of people in thrall to a charismatic leader who extracts obedience through lies and threats, and of apocalyptic prophecies, ritual sacrifices, sexual perversion, and mass suicide. Bringing to light little-known sources such as a “death tape” of Jonestown’s final hour, when Jim Jones led more than 900 of his followers to drink poison, and;a minute-by-minute log of the FBI’s final assault on the Branch Davidian headquarters, and including accounts of drinking the blood of sacrificed cats, theories that we are living inside a hollow earth, and reports that space brothers from Venus are coming to redeem us from the threat of nuclear war, this volume opens a fascinating window into cults and why some of them have ended in spectacular violence.

Product details

• Authors: Joseph P Laycock, Joseph P. Laycock, Various
• Assisted by: Joseph P. Laycock (Editor)
• Publisher: Penguin Books USA
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 07.10.2025
• EAN: 9780143138693
• ISBN: 978-0-14-313869-3
• No. of pages: 320
• Dimensions: 129 mm x 197 mm x 13 mm
• Series: Penguin Classics
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Religion/theology; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Religion: general, reference works; True Crime, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology of Religion, HISTORY / Social History, RELIGION / Cults, TRUE CRIME / Murder / Mass Murder, Christian & quasi-Christian cults & sects, Religious groups: social & cultural aspects, Social groups: religious groups and communities, paranormal; spiritual; ghosts; supernatural; true stories