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A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story Of Hope, Deception, And Survival At Jonestown (2011)

by Julia Scheeres(Favorite Author)

3.93 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

1416596399 (ISBN13: 9781416596394)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Free Press

review 1: Jonestown happened a few short years before I was born and in fact I knew little about it until I saw a documentary on the history channel. I found it shocking, but the one hour show did little to describe the actual people and events in great detail. On the anniversary of the massacre I saw Paradise Lost which shed some new light, and finally came across this book. I wasn't sure what to expect, but once I began to read it was hard to stop. I loved the human side of the story, not just the madness of Jim Jones, but what attracted people to his church and to him in the first place. Then to see their opinions change, or in some cases stay the same. Some people believed in Jim Jones until the bitter end. I guess why will always be a mystery known only to them. The sto... morery builds, as you watch the once dynamic and charismatic leader devolve into paranoia and madness. I never knew that he had "tested" his people several times with poison drinks, a few even thought the last day was just another test before realizing too late it wasn't. The ending was even more heartbreaking as they were now no longer nameless and faceless, one of nine hundred, but actual people, with hopes and dreams, people who only wanted to make the world a better place. Those lucky enough to survive faced even greater hardships and horrors as they tried to adjust to living in the real world again. Many failed and this made the story even more sad. But it is a very well told and fascinating story, difficult to put down, but at the same time hard to read, especially the final scene as children are marched to the vats of "Kool-Aid", the scene becoming more desperate as people began to realize this was no drill, this was real. This book is perfect for anyone looking to get to see the more human side of the People's Temple and the horrors of Jonestown.
review 2: This book was well-researched, and haunted me for weeks after I finished. It's chillingly factual, non-judgmental, sympathetic, harrowing, and finally gives us a peek into the minds to the people lauded "crazy" after the massacre in Jonestown -- including how a charismatic man who seemed to stand for all the right things could manipulate them into a situation that quickly spiraled into a cultish nightmare. less

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