{"product_id":"under-the-banner-of-heaven-isbn-9781400032808","title":"Under the Banner of Heaven","description":"\u003cb\u003eNATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the author of \u003ci\u003eInto the Wild\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eInto Thin Air\u003c\/i\u003e, this extraordinary work of investigative journalism takes readers inside America’s isolated Mormon Fundamentalist communities. \u003cb\u003e• Now a\u003c\/b\u003en\u003cb\u003e acclaimed FX limited series streaming on HULU.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e“Fantastic.... Right up there with \u003ci\u003eIn Cold Blood\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Executioner’s Song.\u003c\/i\u003e” —\u003ci\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDefying 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. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 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.“Scrupulously reported and written with Krakauer’s usual exacting flair, \u003ci\u003eUnder the Banner of Heaven\u003c\/i\u003e 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.” —\u003ci\u003eNewsweek\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Fantastic. . . . Right up there with \u003ci\u003eIn Cold Blood \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Executioner’s Song.\u003c\/i\u003e”   —\u003ci\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e“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.” —\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “This   year’s most audacious work of nonfiction. . . . A white-knuckle mix of true-crime   reporting and provocative history.” —\u003ci\u003eNew York Post\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e“Krakauer writes with almost   astonishing narrative force. It is hard to stop reading.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Baltimore Sun\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e“Stunningly   researched. . . . Elegant reportage. . . . An evenhanded inquiry into the nature   of religious belief itself.” —\u003ci\u003eNewsday\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e“Captivating. . . . Fascinating and appalling.   . . . [Krakauer] should be applauded—and read.” —\u003ci\u003eThe San Diego Union-Tribune\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e“A   great book. . . . Krakauer has found a fascinating story in plain sight, right in   the heart of the American West, and told it with the narrative drive and unflinching   honesty that marked his 1998 best seller, \u003ci\u003eInto Thin Air.\u003c\/i\u003e” —\u003ci\u003eThe Oregonian\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e“Jon Krakauer   is at his provocative best.” —\u003ci\u003eThe New Orleans Times-Picayune\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e“A fascinating page-turner.   . . . Engrossing. . . . Krakauer’s knack for crackling narrative and taut focus .   . . drives this thought-provoking story.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Columbus Dispatch\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e“A hair-raising   true-crimer.” —\u003ci\u003eChicago Sun-Times\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e“Terrifying. . . . Startling. . . . Mov[es] deftly   between past and present [and] provides a fascinating glimpse of the church today.”   —\u003ci\u003eThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e“A powerful portrait of how two seemingly ordinary   Americans became murderers.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Economist\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e“Illuminating . . . provocative. . .   . Krakauer is an adept chronicler of extremists [and] the tour guide of choice for   secular quests.” —\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times Book Review\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e“Marvelous. . . . A departure from   \u003ci\u003eInto Thin Air \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eInto the Wild \u003c\/i\u003e. . . but every bit as engrossing.” —\u003ci\u003eEntertainment   Weekly\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e“Well-researched and evenhanded. . . . Thought-provoking.” —\u003ci\u003eUSA Today\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e“Startling.   . . . Timely. . . . Krakauer uncovers a ghastly trail of forced marriage, polygamy,   violence and mind control. . . . A chilling look at Mormon fundamentalism.” —\u003ci\u003eThe   Charlotte Observer\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e“Horrific, gripping. . . . Soberly written and courageously reported.”   —\u003ci\u003eMilwaukee Journal-Sentinel\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e“Engrossing. . . . Incisive. . . . [Krakauer is] a very   careful reporter. . . . His clear-headed, unbiased examination of the church—leavened   with genuine respect—and his conclusions . . . are hard to argue with.” —\u003ci\u003eBoulder   Daily Camera\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e“One hell of a chilling read.” —\u003ci\u003eMaxim\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e“Compelling. . . . Provocative.   . . . Illuminating. . . . A gripping tale.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Christian Science Monitor\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e“A disturbing   picture of Mormon fundamentalists. . . . Krakauer’s straightforward style and excellent   storytelling ability make the book interesting.” —\u003ci\u003eRocky Mountain News\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e“A terrific   read.” —\u003ci\u003eReader’s Digest\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e“Riveting. . . . Intriguing. . . . Breezy, smooth and vigorously   written, this ambitious book is entertaining and informative. . . . Krakauer reconstructs   the Lafferty brothers’ descent into fatal fanaticism magnificently, interweaving   their story throughout the book and giving this wide-ranging work narrative coherence   and emotional resonance. . . . [He is] a superb storyteller.” —\u003ci\u003eThe News \u0026amp; Observer\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e“A powerful look at how religious belief can cross the line into fanaticism.” —\u003ci\u003eSan   Jose Mercury News\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eJON KRAKAUER is the author of eight books and has received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. According to the award citation, \"Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer.\"ONE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eTHE CITY OF THE SAINTS\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eFor thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God,   and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the   nations that are upon the earth.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Deuteronomy 14:2\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eAnd it shall come to pass that   I, the Lord God, will send one mighty and strong, holding the scepter of power in   his hand, clothed with light for a covering, whose mouth shall utter words, eternal   words; while his bowels shall be a fountain of truth, to set in order the house of   God.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The Doctrine and Covenants, Section 85\u003cbr\u003e revealed to Joseph Smith on November   27, 1832\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Balanced atop the highest spire of the Salt Lake Temple, gleaming in   the Utah sun, a statue of the angel Moroni stands watch over downtown Salt Lake City   with his golden trumpet raised. This massive granite edifice is the spiritual and   temporal nexus of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), which presents   itself as the world's only true religion. Temple Square is to Mormons what the Vatican   is to Catholics, or the Kaaba in Mecca is to Muslims. At last count there were more   than eleven million Saints the world over, and Mormonism is the fastest-growing faith   in the Western Hemisphere. At present in the United States there are more Mormons   than Presbyterians or Episcopalians. On the planet as a whole, there are now more   Mormons than Jews. Mormonism is considered in some sober academic circles to be well   on its way to becoming a major world religion--the first such faith to emerge since   Islam.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Next door to the temple, the 325 voices of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir swell   to fill the tabernacle's vast interior with the robust, haunting chords of \"Battle   Hymn of the Republic,\" the ensemble's trademark song: \"Mine eyes have seen the glory   of the coming of the Lord . . .\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e To much of the world, this choir and its impeccably   rendered harmonies are emblematic of the Mormons as a people: chaste, optimistic,   outgoing, dutiful. When Dan Lafferty quotes Mormon scripture to justify murder, the   juxtaposition is so incongruous as to seem surreal.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The affairs of Mormondom are   directed by a cadre of elderly white males in dark suits who carry out their holy   duties from a twenty-six-story office tower beside Temple Square.* To a man, the   LDS leadership adamantly insists that Lafferty should under no circumstances be considered   a Mormon. The faith that moved Lafferty to slay his niece and sister-in-law is a   brand of religion known as Mormon Fundamentalism; LDS Church authorities bristle   visibly when Mormons and Mormon Fundamentalists are even mentioned in the same breath.   As Gordon B. Hinckley, the then-eighty-eight-year-old LDS president and prophet,   emphasized during a 1998 television interview on \u003ci\u003eLarry King Live\u003c\/i\u003e, \"They have no connection   with us whatever. They don't belong to the church. There are actually no \u003ci\u003eMormon\u003c\/i\u003e Fundamentalists.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Nevertheless, Mormons and those who call themselves Mormon Fundamentalists (or FLDS)   believe in the same holy texts and the same sacred history. Both believe that Joseph   Smith, who founded Mormonism in 1830, played a vital role in God's plan for mankind;   both LDS and FLDS consider him to be a prophet comparable in stature to Moses and   Isaiah. Mormons and Mormon Fundamentalists are each convinced that God regards them,   and them alone, as his favored children: \"a peculiar treasure unto me above all people.\"   But if both proudly refer to themselves as the Lord's chosen, they diverge on one   especially inflammatory point of religious doctrine: unlike their present-day Mormon   compatriots, Mormon Fundamentalists passionately believe that Saints have a divine   obligation to take multiple wives. Followers of the FLDS faith engage in polygamy,   they explain, as a matter of religious duty.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e There are more than thirty thousand   FLDS polygamists living in Canada, Mexico, and throughout the American West. Some   experts estimate there may be as many as one hundred thousand. Even this larger number   amounts to less than 1 percent of the membership in the LDS Church worldwide, but   all the same, leaders of the mainstream church are extremely discomfited by these   legions of polygamous brethren. Mormon authorities treat the fundamentalists as they   would a crazy uncle--they try to keep the \"polygs\" hidden in the attic, safely out   of sight, but the fundamentalists always seem to be sneaking out to appear in public   at inopportune moments to create unsavory scenes, embarrassing the entire LDS clan.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The LDS Church happens to be exceedingly prickly about its short, uncommonly rich   history--and no aspect of that history makes the church more defensive than \"plural   marriage.\" The LDS leadership has worked very hard to persuade both the modern church   membership and the American public that polygamy was a quaint, long-abandoned idiosyncrasy   practiced by a mere handful of nineteenth-century Mormons. The religious literature   handed out by the earnest young missionaries in Temple Square makes no mention of   the fact that Joseph Smith--still the religion's focal personage--married at least   thirty-three women, and probably as many as forty-eight. Nor does it mention that   the youngest of these wives was just fourteen years old when Joseph explained to   her that God had commanded that she marry him or face eternal damnation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Polygamy   was, in fact, one of the most sacred credos of Joseph's church--a tenet important   enough to be canonized for the ages as Section 132 of \u003ci\u003eThe Doctrine and Covenants\u003c\/i\u003e,   one of Mormonism's primary scriptural texts.* The revered prophet described plural   marriage as part of \"the most holy and important doctrine ever revealed to man on   earth\" and taught that a man needed at least three wives to attain the \"fulness of   exaltation\" in the afterlife. He warned that God had explicitly commanded that \"all   those who have this law revealed unto them must obey the same . . . and if ye abide   not that covenant, then are ye damned; for no one can reject this covenant and be   permitted to enter into my glory.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Joseph was murdered in Illinois by a mob of Mormon   haters in 1844. Brigham Young assumed leadership of the church and led the Saints   to the barren wilds of the Great Basin, where in short order they established a remarkable   empire and unabashedly embraced the covenant of \"spiritual wifery.\" This both titillated   and shocked the sensibilities of Victorian-era Americans, who tended to regard polygamy   as a brutish practice on a par with slavery. In 1856, recognizing the strength of   the anti-polygamy vote, Republican candidate John C. Frémont ran for president on   a platform that pledged to \"prohibit in the territories those twin relics of barbarism--Polygamy   and Slavery.\" Frémont lost the election, but a year later the man who did win, President   James Buchanan, sent the U.S. Army to invade Utah, dismantle Brigham Young's theocracy,   and eradicate polygamy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The so-called Utah War, however, neither removed Brigham   from power nor ended the doctrine of plural marriage, to the annoyance and bafflement   of a whole series of American presidents. An escalating sequence of judicial and   legislative challenges to polygamy ensued, culminating in the Edmunds-Tucker Act   of 1887, which disincorporated the LDS Church and forfeited to the federal government   all church property worth more than $50,000. With their feet held fast to the fire,   the Saints ultimately had no choice but to renounce polygamy. But even as LDS leaders   publicly claimed, in 1890, to have relinquished the practice, they quietly dispatched   bands of Mormons to establish polygamous colonies in Mexico and Canada, and some   of the highest-ranking LDS authorities secretly continued to take multiple wives   and perform plural marriages well into the twentieth century.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Although LDS leaders   were initially loath to abandon plural marriage, eventually they adopted a more pragmatic   approach to American politics, emphatically rejected the practice, and actually began   urging government agencies to prosecute polygamists. It was this single change in   ecclesiastical policy, more than anything else, that transformed the LDS Church into   its astonishingly successful present-day iteration. Having jettisoned polygamy, Mormons   gradually ceased to be regarded as a crackpot sect. The LDS Church acquired the trappings   of a conventional faith so successfully that it is now widely considered to be the   quintessential American religion.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Mormon Fundamentalists, however, believe that   acceptance into the American mainstream came at way too high a price. They contend   that the Mormon leaders made an unforgivable compromise by capitulating to the U.S.   government on polygamy over a century ago. They insist that the church sold them   out--that the LDS leadership abandoned one of the religion's most crucial theological   tenets for the sake of political expediency. These present-day polygamists therefore   consider themselves to be the keepers of the flame--the only true and righteous Mormons.   In forsaking Section 132--the sacred principle of plural marriage--the LDS Church   has gone badly astray, they warn. Fundamentalist prophets bellow from their pulpits   that the modern church has become \"the wickedest whore of all the earth.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Mormon   Fundamentalists probably cite Section 132 of \u003ci\u003eThe Doctrine and Covenants\u003c\/i\u003e more than   any other piece of LDS scripture. Their second-most-popular citation is likely Section   85, in which it was revealed to Joseph that \"I, the Lord God, will send one mighty   and strong . . . to set in order the house of God.\" Many fundamentalists are convinced   that the one mighty and strong is already here on earth among them, \"holding the   scepter of power in his hand,\" and that very soon now he will lead the Mormon Church   back onto the right path and restore Joseph's \"most holy and important doctrine.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e TWO\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eSHORT CREEK\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eExtreme and bizarre religious ideas are so commonplace in   American history that it is difficult to speak of them as fringe at all. To speak   of a fringe implies a mainstream, but in terms of numbers, perhaps the largest component   of the religious spectrum in contemporary America remains what it has been since   colonial times: a fundamentalist evangelicalism with powerful millenarian strands.   The doomsday theme has never been far from the center of American religious thought.   The nation has always had believers who responded to this threat by a determination   to flee from the wrath to come, to separate themselves from the City of Destruction,   even if that meant putting themselves at odds with the law and with their communities   or families. . . . We can throughout American history find select and separatist   groups who looked to a prophetic individual claiming divine revelation, in a setting   that repudiated conventional assumptions about property, family life, and sexuality.   They were marginal groups, peculiar people, people set apart from the world: the   Shakers and the Ephrata community, the communes of Oneida and Amana, the followers   of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Philip Jenkins,\u003cbr\u003e Mystics and Messiahs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Snaking   diagonally across the top of Arizona, the Grand Canyon is a stupendous, 277-mile   rent in the planet's hide that functions as a formidable natural barrier, effectively   cutting off the northwestern corner from the rest of the state. This isolated wedge   of backcountry--almost as big as New Jersey, yet traversed by a single paved highway--is   known as the Arizona Strip, and it has one of the lowest population densities in   the forty-eight conterminous states.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e There is, however, one relatively large municipality   here. Colorado City, home to some nine thousand souls, is more than five times as   populous as any other town in the district. Motorists driving west on Highway 389   across the parched barrens of the Uinkaret Plateau are apt to be surprised when,   twenty-eight miles past Fredonia (population 1,036, the second-largest town on the   Strip), Colorado City suddenly materializes in the middle of nowhere: a sprawl of   small businesses and unusually large homes squatting beneath a towering escarpment   of vermilion sandstone called Canaan Mountain. All but a handful of the town's residents   are Mormon Fundamentalists. They live in this patch of desert in the hope of being   left alone to follow the sacred principle of plural marriage without interference   from government authorities or the LDS Church.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Straddling the Utah-Arizona border,   Colorado City is home to at least three Mormon Fundamentalist sects, including the   world's largest: the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.   More commonly known as the United Effort Plan, or UEP, it requires its members live   in strict accordance with the commandments of a frail, ninety-two-year-old tax accountant-turned-prophet   named Rulon T. Jeffs.* \"Uncle Rulon,\" as he is known to his followers, traces his   divinely ordained leadership in an unbroken chain that leads directly back to Joseph   Smith himself. Although his feeble bearing would seem to make him poorly cast for   the role, the residents of Colorado City believe that Uncle Rulon is the \"one mighty   and strong\" whose coming was prophesied by Joseph in 1832.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"A lot of people here   are convinced Uncle Rulon is going to live forever,\" says DeLoy Bateman, a forty-eight-year-old   science teacher at Colorado City High School. Not only was DeLoy born and raised   in this faith, but his forebears were some of the religion's most illustrious figures:   his great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather were among the thirteen founding   members of the Mormon Fundamentalist Church, and his adoptive grandfather, LeRoy   Johnson, was the prophet who immediately preceded Uncle Rulon as the leader of Colorado   City. At the moment, DeLoy is driving his thirdhand Chevy van on a dirt road on the   outskirts of town. One of his two wives and eight of his seventeen children are riding   in the back. Suddenly he hits the brakes, and the van lurches to a stop on the shoulder.   \"Now there's an interesting sight,\" DeLoy declares, sizing up the wreckage of a television   satellite dish behind some sagebrush off the side of the road. \"Looks like somebody   had to get rid of their television. Hauled it out of town and dumped it.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Members   of the religion, he explains, are forbidden to watch television or read magazines   or newspapers. The temptations of the outside world loom large, however, and some   members of the faith inevitably succumb. \"As soon as you ban something,\" DeLoy observes,   \"you make it incredibly attractive. People will sneak into St. George or Cedar City   and buy themselves a dish, put it up where it can't easily be seen, and secretly   watch TV during every free moment. Then one Sunday Uncle Rulon will give one of his   sermons about the evils of television. He'll announce that he knows \u003ci\u003eexactly\u003c\/i\u003e who has   one, and warn that everyone who does is putting their eternal souls in serious jeopardy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Every time he does that, a bunch of satellite dishes immediately get dumped in   the desert, like this one here. For two or three years afterward there won't be any   televisions in town, but then, gradually, the dishes start secretly going up again,   until the next crackdown. People try to do the right thing, but they're only human.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e As the TV prohibition suggests, life in Colorado City under Rulon Jeffs bears more   than a passing resemblance to life in Kabul under the Taliban. Uncle Rulon's word   carries the weight of law. The mayor and every other city employee answers to him,   as do the entire police force and the superintendent of public schools. Even animals   are subject to his whim. Two years ago a Rottweiler killed a child in town. An edict   went out that dogs would no longer be allowed within the city limits. A posse of   young men was dispatched to round up all the canines, after which the unsuspecting   pets were taken into a dry wash and shot.","brand":"Vintage","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46302236639461,"sku":"NP9781400032808","price":22.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781400032808.jpg?v=1767743210","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/under-the-banner-of-heaven-isbn-9781400032808","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}