Cults: The World's Most Notorious Cults

by Nigel Cawthorne

The inside story of the world's most notorious cults.

The strange and sinister world of cults is a source of endless fascination. Their secrets, rituals and shadowy hierarchies make for some of the most disturbing and shocking revelations in history. Most chilling of all is the fact that many of their followers forfeit all independence in order to carry out the often sadistic bidding of a mysterious master manipulator - and continue to defend their leader to this day.

From Charles Manson, who instructed his followers to murder seven people, including a heavily pregnant Sharon Tate, to Aum Shinrikyo, the Japanese doomsday cult that carried out deadly terror attacks, and the People's Temple, these cults and their leaders transfix us with their extreme ability to commit savage acts of cruelty and depravity in the name of a self-appointed higher power.

Many shocking and international cults are brought to life,

- The Manson Family
- People's Temple
- Colonia Dignidad
- Thuggees
- Aum Shinrikyo
- Skopsty
- Ra ëlism
- Heaven's Gate

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, Cults, History, Crime, Religion

251 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 8, 2019

About the author

Nigel Cawthorne is an Anglo-American writer of fiction and non-fiction, and an editor. He has written more than 80 books on a wide range of subjects and has contributed to The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph Daily Mail and The New York Times. He has appeared on television and BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Many of Nigel Cawthorne's books are compilations of popular history, without footnotes, references or bibliographies. His own web site refers to a description of his home as a "book-writing factory" and says, "More than half my books were commissioned by publishers and packagers for a flat fee or for a for a reduced royalty".

One of his most notable works was Taking Back My Name, an autobiography of Ike Turner, with whom he spent a number of weeks working with him on, taking up residence in Turner's house. The book caused much controversy, resulting in court cases for three years following its release.

Cawthorne currently lives in Bloomsbury, London with his girlfriend and son, Colin (born 1982).

Reviews

[Katie Daud · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. Read more like a Wikipedia page than a book.

[Book Case 71 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this one up in an airport lounge. I’ve always been fascinated by cults and this book introduced me to some id never heard of before. A good airport read - but people did give me some side eye when they saw Charles Manson on my cover =)

[Cody Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was pretty good! I liked all of the detail and information about each cult, and I thought the author did a great job explaining each one with an unbiased view. With that being said, some cults were really interesting to me and others were not, so that’s why I did not give it 5 stars.

[britt_brooke · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know, another cult book. I’m promise I’m a well-adjusted human. This was a slow read; such dry writing and not attention-grabbing at all. It took me nearly a month of dipping in for a couple of chapters, here and there, mostly at soccer practice. I think the wild Manson cover kept people from talking to me, so mission accomplished. 😅

[Jake Chaplin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whilst it gives a decent, basic description of certain cults, it does little more than that. Furthermore, the author is eager to label religious denominations as "cults." Whilst this may technically be true in the sense that some had cult-like beginnings, it's hard to argue that LDS, JW, and other similar sects are still cults.

I would only recommend this book if you're new to studying cults, other than that I would look for something better. For a scientist, the author has done very little in depth investigation.

[Staceywh_17 · Rating 4 out of 5]

So so many scathing reviews of this book, me personally I found it fascinating & it certainly opened my eyes. These people are nutters & some of the things they coerced people in to doing in their cults is horrific, right down to giving children LSD or young girls having their breasts removed or FGM. Have only given 4 stars as I would have loved longer chapters on each individual cult.

[Lisa Lucie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a very poorly thought book: there are no sources cited, therefore, the author might just well write what he wants.
The information in this book is rather inaccurate and do label some religions as cults (again, perhaps defining what constitutes a cult based on actual cited definitions would have helped).

Boring, bland and no research whatsoever went into this book.

[JD · Rating 2 out of 5]

my first ever dnf.... but this reads like a wikipedia page but with less information and incorrect dates, only reason i know that is cause of the jonestown chapter.... they did not make sure this was correct or at least that years were correct... gonna put it back in my car and if i'm ever sitting in it waiting for someone ill just read a cult/"cult" here and there and then go on wikipedia for a more in depth read.

[Sam van Stokkom · Rating 3 out of 5]

very interesting but i’d have preferred the author diving deep into fewer cults instead of writing only like 3 pages per cult (46 cults in total). also there were quite some typing errors lol which made it seem very rushed. but yeah it was interesting nonetheless and i learnt about a lot of new cults that i had never heard of

[Jen Farias · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reader's digest of a variety of well known cults and a peak into their methodology. A good quick read for a long flight or for anyone who wants a basic knowledge of histories greatest cults.

[Charlotte · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Ellie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was interesting but not what I expected. It outlines some cults, and gives very basic facts and timelines (normally a couple of pages). I thought this book was going to go into more detail about fewer cults, instead of the brief overview of many cults. I would also disagree with calling some of these groups ‘notorious’. There wasn’t really any insight into cults/practices, it was just a brief history. Still an interesting read, though, and would act as good starting point.

[Hayley · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first saw this book in a book store, I knew I had to have it. While I didn't actually purchase it for a year or so, I was so excited when it did finally arrive via delivery and honestly, I wasn't disappointed.

I found the writing to be witty and conversational, and Cawthrone clearly knows exactly what he is talking about. This book gives a quick overview of the deadly and religious cults going back all the way to the Knight's Templar. It provides just enough information to understand each cult and to appreciate its effects. While I did feel that some chapters could have been expanded upon in regards to the practices of some of the cults, I still enjoyed the book. Especially because it discussed not only the more well-known and murderous cults but the ones not everyone will know about and some that are fairly harmless.

Overall, "Cults" is highly educational and a quick read with powerful stories, acknowledging that some cults have horrific consequences, and a thrilling read.

[Justkeepreading85 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cults: The Worlds Most Notorious Cults Review

I want to thank Mobius Books for a copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

I had such a fascination with cults, I’m always drawn to books like this. I did find that it focused on a lot of older cults from the early 1900’s which for me isn’t all that interesting. The chapters on each cult are quite short so it is just the basics about each one. It is well written but I found it got a bit confusing when it talked about different countries and names of cities etc. Overall it wasn’t a bad read but if you want a detailed account of the cults I suggest you look them up individually. It’s a nice collection. It also goes into great detail about cults from around the world. I’m more interested in the deadly ones.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few pages on each group, enough to get an overview. Suprised how many I knew. Its debatable wether a couple should have been included (e.g. The Yazidi).

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is fine if you just need a 3-4 page summary of a cult, not an in-depth study. After reading about cult after cult in this book, I started to notice how they had many similarities and how some of them got started because the founders had followed or were fans of the leaders of other cults. This book isn't going to give you full outlines of all the information you'll need on any one cult, but it is an interesting overview of many of these groups. A few of the cults that were included may surprise you. As I read, it occurred to me that if you were to ask any of these people if they were in a cult, most of them would probably say, "No." Does anyone recognize at the time their cult membership? I doubt it. These are people who're searching desperately for something and that's how they end up in cults. Whether or not they are ever able to escape these groups is another book entirely. Three stars for the information. The writing style is very textbook-like, so don't expect anything highly engaging in that regard.

[HunterHunter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sensational and reads like a Wikipedia article without sources. The author eschews a reasonable criteria for cult status in favor of just any religious group he thinks is weird or exotic. This is the clumsy mindset that allows dangerous fringe groups like The People's Temple or Branch Davidians to be categorized along side more mainstream established groups like Seventh Day Adventists or recognized Catholic orders like Opus Dei.
There is a chapter dedicated to Zoroastrianism which is one of the oldest religions in the world with over 100,000 adherents. I just can't comprehend the impulse to put a religion like Zoroastrianism in the same category as Aum Shrinrikyo.
The reason for 2 stars instead of 1 is having learned of some groups I was unfamiliar with like Skoptsy or The Order of the Solar Temple.

[Jennie Garcia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m disappointed. The information is basic and messy. The grammar is questionable in some areas. Some of the cults with the same origin should be all together with small subdivisions. He explained The Moonies in 5 pages! Which is imposible, he did a terrible job because he didn’t talk about the factions created after Sun Myung Moon’s death. I was hoping he would talk about all the mormon off shoots cults, but he barely explained mormonism.
The explanations of the cults is poorly done. He talks about the druids, but he doesn’t explain what do they worship or what are their values. It sounds like he expects you to already know these cults and he is just enumerating them. This book looks like poorly updated Wikipedia pages. He includes gossip about the cults without even knowing if it’s true.

[Joshua Southern · Rating 1 out of 5]

Little more than a series of brief Wikipedia entries with more flowery language. It barely covers the basics of each cult and its history, giving each roughly 2.5 pages. It also doesn't contain a single citation for any of Cawthorne's sources, so there's little way to validate his claims, some of which are notably inaccurate (Grace Kelly being a member of the Solar Temple despite dying two years before its founding comes to mind). Then there's the fact that in a book about "shocking cults" Cawthorne has decided to include several recognised religions, some without any controversial history or practices, at least based off his own scant account.

[LR · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent, but basic, introduction to the topic. Wide range both in era and geography, which is nice. Short "chapters" for each cult make for easy reading, though overall it feels very superficial if you're at all familiar with the subject. There's so much more information available, and I think a bibliography would have been beneficial, especially for those who might be looking for more in-depth writings.

[Susann · Rating 2 out of 5]

High level summary of lots of religious groups only

The book provides a very high level summary of lots of religious groups, all labelled cults by the author. It’s debatable whether all of these truly should fall within the definition of cults.
Given the amount of groups summarised by the author, none get any real in depth discussion and I was feeling left quite disappointed with the book. I’d rather he’d picked a few and investigated and researched them in detail!

[erika joy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was definitely interesting and highlighted a lot of unknown cults to me - covering just under 50. However, the writing is bland and it is clear surface level research has been done. There is clear bias in some chapters which I found unnerving. Overall, it was an interesting read and I enjoyed the simple display of information. I will definitely be looking further into a lot of these groups. (Not joining one of them I promise, just curious).

[Michelle Coates · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be a nice dip in the water of a few historical cults I didn't know about. I found it to be an easy read- at times a bit dry but that's honestly fine when the chapters are short and sweet.

There are a lot of cults tied to religions so be aware it may strike a chord if you're personal history does not align with the writings- as the stance is very secular

Glad I picked it up to read and would recommend

[Georgia Knight · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have been so busy this took me forever, but maybe if the writing format maintained it’s original shock-factor I’d have been more motivated to find time to read it. It’s a non-fiction yes, but it really is just a bunch of facts. Some were interesting, some were just not really. The editor didn’t do a great job as there were some repeated words and such. Didn’t hate it, learnt a lot, but reads a bit poor.

[Karin · Rating 3 out of 5]

treat this like a text book, basic introductions to cults, though some, do not seem to qualify as a cult.
i read and have very little memory retention once i move on to the next cult, but nevertheless, an interesting reads. some of the cults that i have never knew existed, i knew them through reading this book, and hence, it was an interesting but forgettable read.

[Leanne · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is incredibly misleading! Most of the so called cults in this book are actually religions (Druidism, Wicca, Zoroastrianism, and Yazidi to name a few), but I had a great time arguing with the author in pencil so it wasn't a massive waste of time. If you're looking for a book on cults then don't bother with this one

[Samantha Silver · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wasn't a bad read, slow at times but what would you really expect. All in all these people are nut cases for sure
The crimes alone should be enough but to add a cult to it makes it a billion times worse. (Trigger warnings) murder, rape (adults and children), underage sex/marriage with older men, suicides and alot of drug use willing and unwilling.

[E J · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a 3.5 rounded up. I liked the way it was written and it has a lot of information but it’s not like a story, if you want information and details about the killers and cults this book is perfect for you but not if you want a story or narrative. I actually did really enjoy the format even though it was different from most books.

[Shelley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bought in Hay while on holiday

It was a cliff note to each cult and I would argue some of them aren't cults.

Some of the translated words were wrong, some of the dates didn't add up and it just felt a bit unfulfilling.

Also the fact that the cover was misleading "The Truth Behind....." but you can't get real truth in just a few pages.

[Lina · Rating 4 out of 5]

One reviewer mentioned that it reads as a Wikipedia article and I, for one, am a Wikipedia addict. This book serves as inspiration for many Wikipedia searches still to come.

One thing: I personally would not classify all groups mentioned in this book as cults. Does living in a commune automatically make you a cult member? I personally don't think so.