Charismatic Cult Leaders

by Thomas Streissguth

Describes the lives and teachings of religious leaders who departed from the mainstream and were considered founders of cults, including John of Leiden, leader of the Anabaptists of sixteenth-century Munster, and Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormons, as well as L. Ron Hubbard, Jim Jones, David Koresh, and others

Genres: Cults, Nonfiction, Religion, History, Psychology

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[James Hollomon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thomas Streissguth does a good job of covering the major modern cults that would flash into any mind asked to list the top 10 cults of the 20th century. He gives us details about the charismatic leader's personality traits, the history of the cult's beginnings, its beliefs and practices, and in the case of cults that ended with their leader's demise, their fate.

What I personally hoped to learn, however, wasn't on Mr. Streissguth's radar screen when he wrote Charismatic Cult Leaders. I am very interested in what nurture and nature psychologically shape a person to go on to become a cult leader. On this, Mr. Streissguth and most other authors of literature covering cults are largely silent. If anyone knows of research in psychology looking into this, I'd be most open to reading recommendations.