Description
Based on five years of research, access to confidential documents, and extensive interviews with current and former Scientologists, Janet Reitman sheds some long-awaited light on the ever-elusive religion of the Church of Scientology.
Scientology, created in 1954 by pulp science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, claims to be the world's fastest growing religion, with millions of members and huge financial holdings. Celebrity believers keep its profile high. Teams of volunteer ministers offer aid at disaster sites like Haiti and the World Trade Center.
But Scientology is also a very closed faith, harassing journalists and others through litigation and intimidation, even infiltrating high levels of the government to further its goals. Its attacks on psychiatry and its requirement that believers pay as much as tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars for salvation have drawn scrutiny and skepticism. Ex-members use the internet to share stories of harassment and abuse.
Reitman offers the first full journalistic history of the Church of Scientology in an even-handed account that establishes the truth about the controversial religion. She traces Scientology's development from the birth of Dianetics to today, following its metamorphosis from a pseudoscientific self-help group to a global spiritual corporation with profound control over its followers and ex-followers. This is a defining book about a little-known world.
Author: Janet Reitman
Publisher: HarperOne
Published: 08/06/2013
Pages: 464
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.20w x 1.10d
ISBN13: 9780547750354
ISBN10: 0547750358
BISAC Categories:
- Religion | Scientology
- Religion | Cults
- Religion | History
Scientology, created in 1954 by pulp science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, claims to be the world's fastest growing religion, with millions of members and huge financial holdings. Celebrity believers keep its profile high. Teams of volunteer ministers offer aid at disaster sites like Haiti and the World Trade Center.
But Scientology is also a very closed faith, harassing journalists and others through litigation and intimidation, even infiltrating high levels of the government to further its goals. Its attacks on psychiatry and its requirement that believers pay as much as tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars for salvation have drawn scrutiny and skepticism. Ex-members use the internet to share stories of harassment and abuse.
Reitman offers the first full journalistic history of the Church of Scientology in an even-handed account that establishes the truth about the controversial religion. She traces Scientology's development from the birth of Dianetics to today, following its metamorphosis from a pseudoscientific self-help group to a global spiritual corporation with profound control over its followers and ex-followers. This is a defining book about a little-known world.
Author: Janet Reitman
Publisher: HarperOne
Published: 08/06/2013
Pages: 464
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.20w x 1.10d
ISBN13: 9780547750354
ISBN10: 0547750358
BISAC Categories:
- Religion | Scientology
- Religion | Cults
- Religion | History
About the Author
JANET REITMAN is a contributing editor at Rolling Stone. Her work has appeared in GQ, Men's Journal, the Los Angeles Times Sunday Magazine, Marie Claire, and the Washington Post, among other publications. She holds a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University and was a finalist for a National Magazine Award in 2007 for the story Inside Scientology.