This is a really well written exploration of how Jim Jones came to power as a religious, social, and political figure, and his slow descent from a man known for his good works man torious today for the slaughter of the majority of his followers. Prior to reading this book, I had no idea how large Jones's following was, how wide spread his his influence was, or the sheer number of people who died at his command. I also hadn't known that some of those who died at Jonestown we're injected with the poison instead of having taken it of their own free will. After having read a few titles of this nature, you can see that Jones follows a life path that many other cult leaders and demagogues take. He intially worked toward a goal, curating a group of followers who shared at least part of the goal, and slowly warped himself and his flock until he was power hungry and those who once followed him, instead served him. A defector of the People's Temple aptly said that being a part of the organization was like boiling a frog. If you put it right into boiling water it would hop out, but if you put a frog in warm water and slowly heated it till it boiled, the frog would stay, being boiled alive. Mob mentality and isolation are scary things. As with previous books on similar topics, I'm somewhere uncomfortable having read this. It feels voyeuristic and dirty to be curious about the deaths of so many people.