Death in the Jungle

You may have heard about the Jonestown Massacre...how almost a thousand U.S. citizens committed mass suicide in a jungle in Guyana by drinking Koolaid with cyanide in it because their cult leader, Jim Jones told them, too, but most people don't know the true details of this gruesome event in American history. In this engaging piece of award-winning nonfiction, Candace Fleming separates fact from fiction as she relates the story of Jim Jones from his humble beginnings to the founding of the People's Temple, his appeal to poor people hoping for economic and social equality, and his descent into drug use and madness. For instance, it wasn't Koolaid the followers drank, but Flavoraid, and much more importantly, most of the people who died did not do so willingly, but were forced to drink the poison or were injected with cyanide against their will. Death in the Jungle is an important work for those interested in society and how even one charismatic leader can take advantage of others, influencing so many in harmful and even tragic ways.