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Koresh

The True Story of David Koresh and the Tragedy at Waco

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Koresh

By: Stephan Talty
Narrated by: Sean Pratt
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Bloomsbury presents Koresh by Stephan Talty, read by Sean Pratt.

In the Spring of 1993, federal agents raided the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. A 51-day standoff ensued. Known as the Waco Siege, it has become a founding myth of the extreme wing of American conservatism, invoked by militiamen, gun rights advocates, and the alt-right.

The leader of the evangelical sect, an extreme form of Seventh-Day Adventism, was David Koresh. Born Vernon Howell, he was a preacher, interpreter of the Bible, and obsessed with the coming of the Apocalypse. A charismatic but highly volatile man, he was a former victim of sexual abuse who himself became a sexual predator on a large scale, exploiting many of the women in his compound.

Koresh is Stephan Talty’s extraordinary, meticulous narration of the events that led up to the Waco Siege. Drawing on new sources, FBI negotiation tapes, and interviews with family and friends, this definitive biography explores how Koresh grew from a young man to a cult leader, and investigates why the siege has become an enduring symbol for radical opponents of the democratic state.©2023 Stephan Talty Freedom & Security Murder Politics & Government Religious Studies True Crime Crime
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Critic reviews

'A searing account...This well-researched and enlightening book is un-put-downable.
Koresh reads like a fever dream, with the quality of a timeless tragedy... if you think you know what really happened at Waco and why, think again.
Someday, when this book gets made into a blockbuster movie, you will say that the book was better.
Burns with timely relevance and urgency... will keep readers on the edge of their seats until the very end.
Clear-eyed and compelling.
Exposes not only the tragedy’s causes but embers that still burn today.
PRAISE FOR STEPHAN TALTY:

'Gripping... A valuable recounting of a lurid and little-known episode in American history' Washington Post.

'Part Holocaust history, part detective case, part spy operation, The Good Assassin is an enthralling book... Stephan Talty paints vivid, often chilling, portraits of its vengeful hero, Mossad agent Jacob Medad' Neal Bascomb.

'Compelling... Talty remains true to his technique, delivering thoroughly researched, engrossing non-fiction in a thriller-like narrative style' Kirkus.

'Talty captures the chilling realities of bloody battlefields, tense war rooms and besieged London... Elegantly crafted' Wall Street Journal.

'Thrilling... An extraordinary crime story with a genuine American hero too long forgotten'
All stars
Most relevant
Koresh was without a doubt a maniulating bully and a rapist.

But what the US goverment did to the sect was a crime against thier own and many British citizens I would call it state murder without any trial.

Very Interesting

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This is an interesting and very well read account of Koresh's life examining in detail his transformation into a cult leader. However it is spoiled by the obvious and relentless left wing bias. This gets far worse towards the end where essentially the author constantly forces the point that the authorities "did no wrong" and anyone who has the temerity to suggest differently is a "far-right conspiracy theorist". Tiresome.

Detailed but with extreme left wing bias.

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