Under the Banner of Heaven
A Story of Violent Faith
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Narrated by:
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Scott Brick
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By:
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Jon Krakauer
About this listen
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the author of Into the Wild and Into Thin Air, this extraordinary work of investigative journalism takes readers inside America’s isolated Mormon Fundamentalist communities. • Now an acclaimed FX limited series streaming on HULU.
“Fantastic.... Right up there with In Cold Blood and The Executioner’s Song.” —San Francisco Chronicle
Defying both civil authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City, the renegade leaders of these Taliban-like theocracies are zealots who answer only to God; some 40,000 people still practice polygamy in these communities.
At the core of Krakauer’s book are brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a commandment from God to kill a blameless woman and her baby girl. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this appalling double murder, Krakauer constructs a multi-layered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, polygamy, savage violence, and unyielding faith. Along the way he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America’s fastest growing religion, and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief.
©2003 Jon Krakauer (P)2003 Books on Tape, Inc., Published by arrangement with Random House Audio Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"Scrupulously reported and written with Krakauer’s usual exacting flair, Under the Banner of Heaven is both illuminating and thrilling. It is also the creepiest book anyone has written in a long time—and that’s meant as the highest possible praise.” —Newsweek
“Powerfully illuminating. . . . Almost every section of the book is fascinating in its own right, and together the chapters make a rich picture. . . . An arresting portrait of depravity.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Illuminating . . . provocative. . . . Krakauer is an adept chronicler of extremists [and] the tour guide of choice for secular quests.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review
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An under told story of the United States.
- By JayHey on 08-28-16
By: Jack Kelly
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Seven Women
- And the Secret of Their Greatness
- By: Eric Metaxas
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
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In his eagerly anticipated follow-up to the enormously successful Seven Men, New York Times best-selling author Eric Metaxas gives us seven captivating portraits of some of history's greatest women, all of whom changed the course of history by following God's call upon their lives - as women.
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A Different Kind of Inspiring
- By Samuel Hudnet on 09-11-15
By: Eric Metaxas
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The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara
- By: David I. Kertzer
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 15 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Bologna, 1858: A police posse, acting on the orders of a Catholic inquisitor, invades the home of a Jewish merchant, Momolo Mortara, wrenches his crying six-year-old son from his arms, and rushes him off in a carriage bound for Rome. His mother is so distraught that she collapses and has to be taken to a neighbor's house, but her weeping can be heard across the city. With this terrifying scene - one that would haunt this family forever - David I. Kertzer begins his fascinating investigation of the dramatic kidnapping.
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Too much detail
- By L. WILLIAM on 03-03-24
By: David I. Kertzer
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The Wordy Shipmates
- By: Sarah Vowell
- Narrated by: Sarah Vowell
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Sarah Vowell's special brand of armchair history makes the bizarre and esoteric fascinatingly relevant and fun. She takes us from the modern-day reenactment of an Indian massacre to the Mohegan Sun casino, from old-timey Puritan poetry, where "righteousness" is rhymed with "wilderness," to a Mayflower-themed waterslide. Throughout, The Wordy Shipmates is rich in historical fact, humorous insight, and social commentary by one of America's most celebrated voices.
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I love Sarah Vowell
- By Audiophile on 10-25-09
By: Sarah Vowell
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A Man of Honor
- The Autobiography of Joseph Bonanno
- By: Joseph Bonanno
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 14 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Born in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, Joseph Bonanno found his future amid the whiskey-running, riotous streets of Prohibition America in 1924, when he illegally entered the United States to pursue his dreams. By the age of only 26, Bonanno became a don. He eventually took over the New York underworld, igniting the "Castellammarese War", one of the bloodiest Family battles ever to hit New York City.
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A must read
- By E. Orlando on 05-03-17
By: Joseph Bonanno
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Raven
- The Untold Story of the Rev. Jim Jones and His People
- By: Tim Reiterman
- Narrated by: Mitch Horowitz
- Length: 29 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Tim Reiterman's Raven provides the seminal history of the Rev. Jim Jones, the Peoples Temple, and the murderous ordeal at Jonestown in 1978. This PEN Award-winning work explores the ideals gone wrong, the intrigue, and the grim realities behind the Peoples Temple and its implosion in the jungle of South America.
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What a very thoroughly written book!
- By Traci P. on 04-22-17
By: Tim Reiterman
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They Were Christians
- The Inspiring Faith of Men and Women Who Changed the World
- By: Cristobal Krusen
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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What do Abraham Lincoln, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Louis Pasteur, Frederick Douglass, Florence Nightingale, and John D. Rockefeller, Sr., all have in common? They all changed the world - and they were all Christians. Now the little-known stories of faith behind 12 influential people of history are available in one inspiring volume. They Were Christians reveals the faith-filled motivations behind some of the most outstanding political, scientific, and humanitarian contributions of history.
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Great book
- By Amazon Customer on 12-10-18
By: Cristobal Krusen
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Brigham Young
- Pioneer Prophet
- By: John G. Turner
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 19 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Brigham Young was a rough-hewn craftsman from New York whose impoverished and obscure life was electrified by the Mormon faith. He trudged around the United States and England to gain converts for Mormonism, spoke in spiritual tongues, married more than 50 women, and eventually transformed a barren desert into his vision of the Kingdom of God. While previous accounts of his life have been distorted by hagiography or polemical exposé, John Turner provides a fully realized portrait of a colossal figure in American religion, politics, and westward expansion.
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The Lion of the Lord says "Mind Your Own Business"
- By Darwin8u on 08-26-13
By: John G. Turner
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Massacre at Mountain Meadows
- By: Ronald W Walker, Richard E Turley, Glen M Leonard
- Narrated by: Bill Dewees
- Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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On September 11, 1857, a band of Mormon militia, under a flag of truce, lured unarmed members of a party of emigrants from their fortified encampment and, with their Paiute allies, killed them. More than 120 men, women, and children perished in the slaughter.
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Slow to get started - not fully balanced.
- By Chris on 02-28-10
By: Ronald W Walker, and others
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The Miracle Detective
- An Investigative Reporter Sets Out to Examine How the Catholic Church Investigates Holy Visions and Discovers His Own Faith
- By: Randall Sullivan
- Narrated by: Jeremy Arthur
- Length: 18 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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In a tiny, dilapidated trailer in northeastern Oregon, a young woman saw a vision of the Virgin Mary in an ordinary landscape painting hanging on her bedroom wall. After being met with skepticism from the local parish, the matter was officially placed "under investigation" by the Catholic diocese. Investigative journalist Randall Sullivan wanted to know how, exactly, one might conduct the official inquiry into such an incident, so he set off to interview theologians, historians, and postulators.
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Fascinating book on the study of miracles
- By H Walsh on 11-16-15
By: Randall Sullivan
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The House of Government
- A Saga of the Russian Revolution
- By: Yuri Slezkine, Claire Bloom - director
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 45 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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On the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, the epic story of an enormous apartment building where Communist true believers lived before their destruction. The House of Government is unlike any other book about the Russian Revolution and the Soviet experiment.
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Inside saga of the leaders of Bolshevism & the USSR
- By Edward V. Blanchard on 11-05-17
By: Yuri Slezkine, and others
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A Delusion of Satan
- The Full Story of the Salem Witch Trials
- By: Frances Hill
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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During the bleak winter of 1692 in the rigid Puritan community of Salem Village, Massachusetts, a group of young girls began experiencing violent fits, allegedly tormented by Satan and the witches who worshipped him. From the girls' initial denouncing of an Indian slave, the accusations soon multiplied. In less than two years, 19 men and women were hanged, one was pressed to death, and over a hundred others were imprisoned and impoverished. This evenhanded and now-classic history illuminates the horrifying episode with visceral clarity.
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A new take on the Witch Trials
- By Jolene Correll on 02-17-15
By: Frances Hill
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Not at all like Into the Wild!
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THE 'BABY DOLL' SERIAL KILLER
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Mormonism Unvailed
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More Mormons need to listen to this!
- By Anonymous User on 11-21-24
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Valentino's travels, truly Biblical in scope, bring him in contact with government soldiers, janjaweed-like militias, liberation rebels, hyenas and lions, disease and starvation, and a string of unexpected romances. Ultimately, Valentino finds safety in Kenya and, just after the millennium, is finally resettled in the United States, from where this novel is narrated.
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What listeners say about Under the Banner of Heaven
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Wilde1
- 05-20-09
Books like this are why I prefer non-fiction!
I like a really good novel or literature for relaxation and escape. But real life stories like this are far more interesting. Everyone looking for truth in religion should read this book. The details about the short history of such a popular and fast-growing sect are fascinating, and you find yourself wondering how anyone can buy into the beliefs of the LDS faith, and questioning the basis of any religion, for that matter. The blood-curdling description of the murders done in the name of God are gripping. The long history of child-rape, incest, and brutality is incredible. The description in the killer's own words of the murder of a helpless child were almost more than I could take. I chose this book because Scott Brick is my favorite narrarator. It will be on my list of favorites for a very long time.
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34 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Kathleen
- 07-16-07
true crime & true history!
This is the very best way to learn your history lessons: take it with a fascinating story that spawns no end of twists, characterological and otherwise. An extraordinary tale that leaves you no easy place to stand and, like every important story, forces you to examine your own ideas about all the big things, God included.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Merlin
- 11-21-11
Important info about Mormonism
The book provides important information about the Mormon church, its history and its offshoots. Essentially it tells of how much absurdity, hypocrisy, and violence there has been in Mormonism ever since Joseph Smith. It's good that this knowledge reaches a wider audience. I had two criticisms of the book: a) I thought the way it moved between present and past a bit pointless-- a case of the writer being arch; b) eventually the catalogue of crime, craziness, and hypocrisy becomes somewhat numbing.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Thomas
- 11-03-08
Interesting, but...
I found this book interesting, but it was a bit of slog to get through. The reader is a bit monotonous, but then the book is as well. I enjoyed the history of the Mormon church and now appreciate that it is as plagued by fundamentalist splinter groups as every other religion. However, if you are expecting the book to flow as a novel in the manner of Krakauer's other books, you may be disappointed.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Joseph Scarnici
- 02-29-12
You can't make this up!!
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes!! I'm not a religious person but this story about the mormons is like reading science fiction!
What did you like best about this story?
Jon Krakauer states facts, tells a true story, interjects true history,... and makes reading about Mormons like watching Star Wars.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Elza
- 10-25-08
Interesting book.
If you want a breathtaking listen and learn about Mormonism at the same time, this is a good one. It is thrilling, well written and gives insight into the following that call themselves Mormons. I am always on the look-out for something new with depth and this book ranks high on my list of recent listens that gave me what I what I look for. Other reviews give the necessary details.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 10-03-20
on point from a girl how got out
brings back alot of memories. man your point on. so wired after so many years. this is still ingrained in your mind. never gose away. love the fact it's no longer quite. evil has come to light. paryers to all still fighting to get out. weird to listen have to stop because some names have been changed. very good
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- Natalie Fayman
- 12-03-16
Getting away with murder in the name of God
This book left me disgusted and disappointed in the human race. It chronicles the history of a religion founded by a known con artist, and led by power-hungry men who think nothing of murdering both "Gentiles" and fellow LDS members for their own personal gain, and who loudly proclaim their God-given right to rape children and forcibly subjugate women in plural marriage.
This book illustrates how otherwise honest and upstanding people can be brainwashed and trained to lie and commit heinous acts in the name of faith, and how that faith can be shamelessly manipulated by corrupt religious leaders. The book focuses on the LDS church, but the history of nearly every other religion on earth has similar stories.
One thing I was curious about that the book did not touch upon was whether or not there was a shortage of women to go around to provide multiple wives for every man in the LDS church. The book talks about LDS church leaders and other prominent men in the community taking 20 or more wives each. Unless Mormons are somehow giving birth to 80% more female than male babies, the math just doesn't work.
Mr Krakauer has tackled a very complex and interesting subject, but I found his writing style very disjointed. He doesn't seem to be able to write in a straight timeline, and the way the narration jumped around left me confused about the progression of the historical events
Scott Brick does a fantastic job with the narration of this book, he is one of my top three favorite narrators to listen to.
Listening to this book has only convinced me that I made the right decision in taking responsibility for my own spiritual path instead of following an organized church group. I definitely believe that there is a higher power in the universe, but organized religion is just a legal form of slavery and mind control. Everyone is ultimately responsible for their own actions, and no mere human can profess to know the will of the Almighty. If you give other people the power to control your thoughts and actions, you offer yourself up to exploitation. For me, the moral of this story is "think for yourself, and question authority"
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- william
- 07-26-15
Perfect balance
We planned a 6000 km road trip from Alberta Canada to San Francisco to visit our son. We included many stops and side trips along the way. Some days we were in our vehicle for 12 hours. We would get a fresh cup of coffee then set aside a certain amount of time to listen to this wonderful story as well as a superb history lesson. We listened in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, and British Columbia. The story and characters were captivating and compelling. As the saying goes " Time flew by". We have recommended this book to fellow travellers.
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- ADAM
- 07-13-16
Good history of LDS and insight to fundamentalism
I like Scott Bricks narration, but it can be over the top sometimes. A good perspective on how fundamentalism can take hold of an otherwise benign religion.
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