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Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith

by Jon Krakauer

Brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty insist they were commanded to kill by God. Krakauer's investigation is a meticulously researched, bone-chilling narrative of polygamy, savage violence and unyielding faith: an incisive, gripping work of non-fiction that illuminates an otherwise confounding realm of human behaviour. 'A provocative look at the twisted roots of American fundamentalism' - Will Self,... (more)

Top tags: religionnon-fictionnonfictionmormonshistory (all tags)

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Amazon Reviews (5)
 

Most Helpful Reviews

Liked It

3 of 3 members found this review helpful.
Shannon
  • Rated 4 stars

A surprising glimpse into the history and beliefs of the Mormon faith and how some fundamentalists twisted this faith (like they do almost all others) and this causes them to take actions that are not good. The murder in that this book is about comes from FLDS faith which prompts some men to believe that god wants them to kill their brothers wife and child. The research and history in this book are fascinating since as the author explains Mormonism is the only modern developed faith that has...

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Didn’t Like It

3 of 3 members found this review helpful.
WriterDan
  • Rated 1 stars



I started reading this book thinking that it would mostly concern religious fundamentalist groups that broke off from the LDS church. It starts out talking about a pair of brothers that was associated with these types of religious groups, who ultimately decided to kill their sister-in-law and her infant girl. The author tries to delve into the religious background of these two individuals and see if the history of their beliefs could be to blame for their behaviour. In fact, I...

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Community:
  • Rated 3.961137 stars
Amazon:
  • Rated 4 stars
 

Newest Comments

  • vickie p

    vickie p said:

    could not finish the book. Enough said.

    posted Wednesday, January 21 2009
  • Princess michelle w

    princess michelle w said:

    Okay ever one knows right that these crazy people are not part of the LDS church and that they are just a break off crazy cult as evidence by the fact that they killed people. also isn't that just creepy reading a book about murders.

    posted Tuesday, June 24 2008
  • pabloz

    pabloz said:

    When Romney ran for the Pres. nomination I could see the future: Mormon president... WoW! suddenly GOD speaks to the right people and plural marraige, blood atonement and who knows what else are before congress

    posted Tuesday, June 24 2008
  • Kim B

    kim b said:

    I thought this was a quite well written book, even if it felt a bit disjointed through the beginning. The individual story lines through the novel gave a great idea of the mindset of people in fundamentalist religions. I wish I could find more information on what happened to the Lafferty brothers since the end of the book...

    posted Tuesday, June 10 2008
  • She

    she said:

    This story should be a must read along with Shattered Dreams. It is so relevant to what is happening in Texas right now. We need to wake up!!! We are breeding our own native version of a Christian Fundamentalism that is based in violence towards the body-mind-soul.

    posted Sunday, May 4 2008

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