Like the other reviewer, I read this book in one day or a couple of hours. First of all, it's not for everybody because the book is designed for scholarly reading but for those who want to know more about Jonestown, then this book offers another view in the elite power group of mostly women leadership in the Jonestown and People's Temple. I thought this book was a refreshing and positive look at Jonestown by a compassionate author. I was interested in learning about the women who were Jones' inner circle. While the author does depart from the usual rhetoric of anti-Jonestown like other authors, she does offer a sense of understanding deeper but doesn't apologize for the murder/suicide that occurred on November 18, 1978. Sadly, while the world thought that 900 Americans went crazy in the jungle and killed themselves is simply a myth and not true. In fact, there was obvious resistance, struggles, jealousies within the community in Jonestown. The question is why didn't they choose an alternative way out of the mess? Why simply could they have walked away? There was a lot of brainwashing, persuasion, convincing, etc. about the nightmares in the United States. The fear of a nuclear holocaust was present until the 1980s. Annie Moore wrote "We died because you did not let us live" as her final words in her suicide letter found in Jonestown. Sadly, I believe that Jones and his inner circle could have stopped the suicide if they chose too but we'll never know. The author does mention the 270 children who first died in Jonestown on November 18, 1978 followed by the elderly. The People's Temple has been misunderstood becaues they did do a lot of humanitarian projects in San Francisco such as care for the elderly, the sick, the drug addicts, alcoholics, outcasts of society. The People's Temple had dedicated followers like Grace Stoen who was empowered to do something positive for the community. Of course, Jones has a lot of blame to be dumped on him for obvious reasons simply because he was their leader and thought of all the potential ways to prevent resistance, escapes, etc. For all the good that the People's Temple did, it was equally met by a horrendous outcome that happened on November 18, 1978. Yes, this book helps explain Jones and his relationships with the women in the temple but there is more and there will always be more to People's Temple, Jonestown, and Jim Jones.
