The Road to Jonestown

Jim Jones and Peoples Temple

De: Jeff Guinn

Narrado por: George Newbern

An Edgar Award Finalist for Best Fact Crime

“A thoroughly readable, thoroughly chilling account of a brilliant con man and his all-too vulnerable prey” (The Boston Globe)—the definitive story of preacher Jim Jones, who was responsible for the Jonestown Massacre, the largest murder-suicide in American history, by the New York Times bestselling author of Manson.

In the 1950s, a young Indianapolis minister named Jim Jones preached a curious blend of the gospel and Marxism. His congregation was racially mixed, and he was a leader in the early civil rights movement. Eventually, Jones moved his church, Peoples Temple, to northern California, where he got involved in electoral politics and became a prominent Bay Area leader. But underneath the surface lurked a terrible darkness.

In this riveting narrative, Jeff Guinn examines Jones’s life, from his early days as an idealistic minister to a secret life of extramarital affairs, drug use, and fraudulent faith healing, before the fateful decision to move almost a thousand of his followers to a settlement in the jungles of Guyana in South America. Guinn provides stunning new details of the events leading to the fatal day in November, 1978 when more than nine hundred people died—including almost three hundred infants and children—after being ordered to swallow a cyanide-laced drink.

Guinn examined thousands of pages of FBI files on the case, including material released during the course of his research. He traveled to Jones’s Indiana hometown, where he spoke to people never previously interviewed, and uncovered fresh information from Jonestown survivors. He even visited the Jonestown site with the same pilot who flew there the day that Congressman Leo Ryan was murdered on Jones’s orders. The Road to Jonestown is “the most complete picture to date of this tragic saga, and of the man who engineered it…The result is a disturbing portrait of evil—and a compassionate memorial to those taken in by Jones’s malign charisma” (San Francisco Chronicle).

A Lesson For Today

Evil people don't think of themselves as evil. They believe what they are doing is the right thing, no matter the reality. Then there's the characters and events as this charismatic do-gooder dragged well-minded people into hell.

These people were in a cult and they followed the leader no matter what. Even into death. And don't forget, a cult leader or any leader can't do anything alone, he needs followers.

And it is a lesson to learn and always remember when someone calls themselves infallible, above the law and denigrates anyone who dares to question or criticize. And does all that with constant half-truths and lies, all the while demanding loyalty. And if this reminds you of someone, that's intentional.
Watch out.

The quintessential Jonestown book

If you have any interest in this subject at all, you should get this audiobook. It has all the details you need. I almost wish I would have bought the kindle book as well because there’s so many characters to keep up with and so many names.
The narration is superb but towards the end I slowed it down to try to process who was doing what. The narrator is so professional and relaxed, I really appreciate his expertise.

Terrific in every way!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is a great book that included a lot of background on Jones that I hadn't known before. His childhood and early years, things that usually aren't focused on, add a lot of depth to the story. And Guinn doesn't focus on the massacre, instead he gives a lot detail leading up to it and then wraps up quickly after.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Marceline Jones, his wife, provides a very sympathetic character to identify with.

What does George Newbern bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Newbern is a good reader and brought a lot of life to the characters.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

A map to manipulation and murder.

Eye Opening!

This was very eye opening and tragic but also a piece of history that shouldn't be forgotten.

SUPER in depth on Jim Jones/Peoples Temple

I've been wanting to read this since it's been mentioned on both MFM and LPOTL podcasts. Finally took the plunge and its full of details on the very early life of Jim Jones and how he began this insane cult. It told a lot of good things that Jim Jones actually accomplished before greed and power took over. It's crazy how connected this guy was to so many people. If you are super interested in the early history about this cult, I'd highly suggest it. I only say this to the people who really love cults/true crime because it's super thick with life details on Jim Jones that perhaps the occasional true crime lover might not want/need to learn about his life and the beginning of the doomed cult. For those listeners reading the reviews, just stick to the My Favorite Murder / Last Podcast on the Left episodes on this subject if you're only mildly interested. Otherwise for those who eat this stuff up definitely take on a chance on this book. I was super fascinated the entire time.
George Newbern did a decent job at narrating the book. His voice can get a little stale at times but for the most part I think he did a decent job considering there's no terribly exciting moments for his voice to change or speed up. Other than those considerations the book is easy to listen to and not as disturbing as I thought it might be. They don't include the tapes, which you can get online or they play them on the LPOTL cover of this story. (Those were hard to listen to) Enjoy!