Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Waco: David Koresh, the Branch Davidians, and A Legacy of Rage

Today's nonfiction post is on Waco: David Koresh, the Branch Davidians, and A Legacy of Rage by Jeff Guinn. It is 400 pages long and is published by Simon & Schuster. The cover is a picture of the siege of the Mount Carmel. The intended reader is someone who is interested in modern American history. There is some foul language, discussions of rape and sexual abuse of children, and violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- This is the definitive account of the disastrous siege at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, featuring never-before-seen documents, photographs, and interviews, from former investigative reporter Jeff Guinn, bestselling author of Manson and The Road to Jonestown.
For the first time in thirty years, more than a dozen former ATF agents who participated in the initial February 28, 1993, Waco raid speak on the record about the poor decisions of their commanders that led to this deadly confrontation. The revelations in this book include why the FBI chose to end the siege with the use of CS gas; how both ATF and FBI officials tried and failed to cover up their agencies’ mistakes; where David Koresh plagiarized his infamous prophecies; and direct links between the Branch Davidian tragedy and the modern militia movement in America. Notorious conspiracist Alex Jones is a part of the Waco story. So much is new and stunning.
Guinn puts you alongside the ATF agents as they embarked on the disastrous initial assault, unaware that the Davidians knew they were coming and were armed and prepared to resist. His you-are-there narrative continues to the final assault and its momentous consequences. Drawing on this new information, including several eyewitness accounts, Guinn again does what he did with his bestselling books about Charles Manson and Jim Jones, revealing new details about a story that we thought we knew.

Review- A very in-depth look around what happened at Mount Carmel, before and during, the siege at Waco. Guinn interviews everyone who is willing to talk with him from ATF agents, reporters, people of Waco, and surviving Branch Davidians. The book covers the beginning of the Branch Davidian sect and David Koresh's personal history. The interviews give great insight into what went wrong and how easy it was for everything to get out of any kind of control for both sides. The ATF at large did not know that the Davidians knew they were coming and that the Davidians believed that the ATF were from the devil and the end of world was starting. The book continues into the nearer present with following the agents and survivors. The writing is good, the facts both for and against Koresh and his followers and what they believed and how far they were willing to go to bring around the end of the world. I learned a lot about Waco and the people involved, I would recommend this book. 

I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library. 

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