Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith
 

Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith

by Jon Krakauer

In 1984, Ron and Dan Lafferty murdered the wife and infant daughter of their younger brother Allen. The crimes were noteworthy not merely for their brutality but for the brothers' claim that they were acting on direct orders from God. In Under the Banner of Heaven, Jon Krakauer tells the story of the killers and their crime but also explores the shadowy world of Mormon fundamentalism from which... (read more)

Top tags: religionnon-fictionnonfictionmormonshistory (all tags)

 

Member Reviews

  • caitlin m
    1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
    • Rated 5 stars

    A disturbing look at Morman Fundamentalism. The book is well written, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, although Krakauers asides could have been just slightly less rambling.

    caitlin m wrote this review Friday, February 8 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Allie
    1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
    • Rated 5 stars

    Wow. This is a powerful, scary, and shocking book about one of the world's radical religious sects. Packed with references, historical recounts, and interviews, this story will haunt anyone who dares to read it. I highly recommend this book. Krakauer delivers.

    Allie wrote this review Monday, February 4 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Jay K
    1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
    • Rated 4 stars

    dang mormons are nutty

    Jay K wrote this review Tuesday, January 22 2008. ( reply | view 2 replies | permalink )
  • Elise
    1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
    • Rated 4 stars

    Really interesting history of the Morman faith. Excellent.

    Elise wrote this review Saturday, January 12 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Jakub
    1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
    • Rated 4 stars

    Sure makes you think about religion.

    Jakub wrote this review Friday, November 9 2007. ( reply | permalink )
  • spasimante
    1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
    • Rated 3 stars

    This book has two different strains. The first is great crime drama about religious fanatics. The second is the etiology of their fanatacism, which is supposedly found in Mormonism's stark-raving mad beginnings. The first part is well done and enthralling. Unfortunately, the second part is largely an amalgam of incorrect history and one-sided arguments.

    If you want a great crime drama, this is your book. If you want accurate history, this is not your book.

    spasimante wrote this review Sunday, August 26 2007. ( reply | permalink )
  • heatherb11
    1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
    • Rated 4 stars

    Incredibly intriguing--ok I might be more interested in LDS/mormonism than some but still. After reading this book, I think we should all pay a bit more attention to what's going on in Utah.

    heatherb11 wrote this review Wednesday, July 18 2007. ( reply | permalink )
  • dtyler321
    1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
    • Rated 4 stars

    [br/]A fascinating, disturbing look at the destructive power of blind faith.

    dtyler321 wrote this review Wednesday, July 18 2007. ( reply | permalink )
  • abednarthumm
    1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
    • Rated 0 stars

    This book gives a history of the Mormon faith while describing a disturbing account of Mormon fundamentalism gone wrong.

    abednarthumm wrote this review Tuesday, July 17 2007. ( reply | permalink )
  • valnye
    • Rated 3 stars

    This book could have used some editing. It was really long and provided a lot of detail about Mormon history. The history of Mormonism was interesting, but overly detailed at times. I did learn a lot, however.

    valnye wrote this review 5 days ago. ( reply | permalink )
Displaying 1-10 of 223 reviews
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