William Shaw's acclaimed account of his incursions into the covert world of cults.

Back in 1993, as the CIA surrounded David Koresh's compound in Waco, William Shaw started wondering what made people join religious cults. So he decided to join some.

Over the course of a year, he infiltrated some of Britain's most secretive cults and fringe religious groups, including The Emin, the Jesus Army, the Aetherius Society, Krishna Consciousness and Chrisemma run by a real Chris and Emma in Totnes). In the midst of our society he found a complex alternative culture devoted to worlds that the rest of us might find very strange indeed.

Includes a new chapter on the Church of Scientology.

'Objective, intelligent and compelling' Nine to Five

'Valuable lessons about how cults work' Sunday Times

'A funny, if scary, book' Select

'Excellent. Very readable and entertaining' Goodreads reader

'This book is a kind of adventure story. Drawn by the disillusioned and the unprepossessing, Shaw writes without prejudice. He gives a balanced account of his experiences, which cover the spectrum of oddity from the lunatic Emin to the almost attractive Hare Krishnas. His question is not why they believe, but why they have such peculiar beliefs.' Literary Review

'I couldn't put this book down. It's way clearer and better written than any of the others I've encountered.' Amazon reader

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• Religion & SpiritualityNew AgeMysticism

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• Print Length: 311 Pages
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