
Death in the Jungle
Murder, Betrayal, and the Lost Dream of Jonestown
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Narrated by:
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Karen Murray
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By:
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Candace Fleming
About this listen
How did Jim Jones, the leader of Peoples Temple, convince more than 900 of his followers to commit "revolutionary suicide" by drinking cyanide-laced punch? From a master of narrative nonfiction comes a chilling chronicle of one of the most notorious cults in American history.
Using riveting first-person accounts, award-winning author Candace Fleming reveals the makings of a monster: from Jones’s humble origins as a child of the Depression… to his founding of a group whose idealistic promises of equality and justice attracted thousands of followers… to his relocation of Temple headquarters from California to an unsettled territory in Guyana, South America, which he dubbed "Jonestown”… to his transformation of Peoples Temple into a nefarious experiment in mind-control.
And Fleming heart-stoppingly depicts Jones’s final act, persuading his followers to swallow fatal doses of cyanide—to “drink the kool-aid,” as it became known—as a test of their ultimate devotion.
Here is a sweeping story that traces, step by step, the ways in which one man slowly indoctrinated, then murdered, 900 innocent, well-meaning people. And how a few members, Jones' own son included, stood up to him... but not before it was too late.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2025 Candace Fleming (P)2025 Listening LibraryCritic reviews
★ "Extraordinary and illuminating."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
★ "Teens fascinated by cults will find plenty of that here, but they’ll also come away with a more nuanced understanding of a highly sensationalized historical event."—Booklist, starred review
★ "Riveting.... this fascinating and disturbing work will help readers 'recognize the destructive groups in their own midst.'"—Publishers Weekly, starred review
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