A former top insider reveals the nightmare world of violence and abuse at the highest levels of the Church of Scientology. Amy Scobee was their staff member for 27 years. She rose up the ranks to the top of church management by the time she was twenty, where she remained for two decades. For much of that time, she served as a member of the Watchdog Committee, the highest management body in Scientology, which supervises every sector that makes up the organization today.In this book,...

The revelatory memoir by former "poster girl for Scientology" Michelle LeClair about her defection from the Church, her newly accepted sexual identity, and the lengths to which Scientology went to silence it.For years, Michelle LeClair, former President of Scientology's international humanitarian organization, tried to reconcile her sexual orientation with the anti-gay ideology of the church. Michelle finally ends her horrific marriage, finds the love of her life, ...

At age 12 Janis was thrust into a role that no one, not even L. Ron Hubbard himself, could have predicted the outcome, for within not too many years Janis and her fellow Commodore's Messengers, as they were called, would be running the whole of International Scientology. But that is the story of a later book. Commodore's Messenger begins by taking the reader into the life of the first family of Scientology in Australia, Yvonne and Peter Gillham and their three children, Peter Jr., Terri an...

As seen in the HBO Max docuseries The Vow, a jaw-dropping insider look into the world of the "Hollywood Sex Cult" NXIVM, chronicling the rise of enigmatic cult leader, Keith Raniere.Keith Raniere was prosecuted for ensnaring tens of thousands of people in the US, Mexico, Canada and elsewhere, to do his bidding and pay millions of dollars to participate in his self-improvement methodology. But where did Keith Raniere begin?Enter Toni Natalie, Keith'...

The basis of the celebrated Paramount Network miniseries starring Michael Shannon and Taylor Kitsch -- Waco is the critically-acclaimed, first person account of the siege by Branch Davidian survivor, David Thibodeau.Twenty-five years ago, the FBI staged a deadly raid on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco. Texas. David Thibodeau survived to tell the story.When he first met the man who called himself David Koresh, David Thibodeau was a drummer in a l...

Nominated by Foreword Magazine as 2009 Book of the Year Award Finalist. Marc Headley provides a rare, never before seen insider's look at life inside Scientology. He spent 15 years employed at their secret headquarters, the sprawling 500 acre property located deep in the California desert. The local townspeople were told that Scientology lectures and films were being made there. But is that all that is happening there? It is the location of a multi-million dollar home for L. Ron Hubbard, b...

There are many Polygamist cults in North America with different doctrines, and only one overriding belief in common which is to marry very young girls to very old men and throw away the young men. Young men who are competing for wives of their own. Education is only to 6th grade and for girls it is optional. Depraved behavior, incest and suffering is a way of life, so is lack of food and housing. The States of Utah and Arizona pay about 18 million dollars a year to support the extra wives ...

To a young, teenage girl, Scientology seemed to be just what the author was looking for; a way to improve herself and attain spiritual enlightenment. But it was only after she joined Scientology’s elite inner circle, the Sea Organization, and signed a Billion Year contract that she discovered the dark world of fanaticism and abuse at the center of Scientology’s vast empire. For more than two decades she worked at all levels of the organization, from serving as a personal aide to the founde...

**This comprehensive account of the meteoric rise of The Simpsons combines incisive pop culture criticism and interviews with the show’s creative team that take readers inside the making of an American phenomenon during its most influential decade, the 1990s."The best Simpsons book ever."―Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone’s chief television critic and author of The Soprano Sessions and TV (The Book)**The Simpsons is an American institution. B...

“Truth is always stranger than fiction. . . A stunning, riveting and extraordinary real-life story of life in the shadows." –#1 International Bestselling Author Don WinslowThe gripping true story, that reads like fiction, of how legendary FBI Special Agent Martin Suarez went deep undercover—and lived a double-life for years—to infiltrate Colombia's most insidious drug cartels.Martin Suarez, a legend within the FBI who specialized in Colombian drug cartels, holds the record ...

SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAAH STONE BOOK AWARDA new history of US education through the nineteenth century that rigorously accounts for Black, Native, and white experiences; a story that exposes the idea of American education as “the great equalizer” to not only be a lie, but also a myth that reproduces past harms.Education is the epicenter of every community in the United States. Indeed, few institutions are as pivotal in shaping our lives and ...

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A Holocaust historian, archivist, and history blogger adds a new dimension to the story of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising during World War II, shining a long overdue spotlight on five young, Polish Jewish women—champions who helped lead the resistance, sabotage the Nazis, and aid Jews in hiding across occupied Poland and Eastern Europe.The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising is one of the most storied events of the Holocaust, yet previo...