Jonestown Massacre

By Gina DeAngelis

Subjects: Juvenile literature, Sects, Cults, Jonestown mass suicide, jonestown, guyana, 1978, Jonestown Mass Suicide, Jonestown, Guyana, 1978

Description: The agricultural settlement of Jonestown in Guyana, South America, was meant to be a promised land for its inhabitants, the members of Jim Jones's Peoples Temple. How then, in November 1978, did 912 people—276 children among them—all lose their lives in the space of a single day there? How could Jonestown become the site of such a massacre? Because cult leader Jim Jones ordered the organized suicide and murder of all his followers. The horror of Jonestown remains the worst cult disaster in United States history. In *Jonestown Massacre: Tragic End of a Cult*, author Gina De Angelis recalls the terrifying events that took place in Guyana on November 18, 1978. Included are personal accounts from survivors and witnesses, along with statements from scholars who examine the roots of this tragedy, along with its legacy.