A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Jonestown

Julia Scheeres

Oct 2011 · Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

In 1954, a pastor named Jim Jonesopened a church in Indianapolis called Peoples Temple Full Gospel Church. He was a charismatic preacher with idealistic beliefs, and he quickly filled his pews with an audience eager to hear his sermons on social justice. As Jones’s behavior became erratic and his message more ominous, his followers leaned on each other to recapture the sense of equality that had drawn them to his church. But even as the congregation thrived, Jones made it increasingly difficult for members to leave. By the time Jones moved his congregation to a remote jungle in Guyana and the US government began to investigate allegations of abuse and false imprisonment in Jonestown, it was too late.

A Thousand Lives is the story of Jonestown as it has never been told. New York Times bestselling author Julia Scheeres drew from tens of thousands of recently declassified FBI documents and audiotapes, as well as rare videos and interviews, to piece together an unprecedented and compelling history of the doomed camp, focusing on the people who lived there.

The people who built Jonestown wanted to forge a better life for themselves and their children. In South America, however, they found themselves trapped in Jonestown and cut off from the outside world as their leader goaded them toward committing “revolutionary suicide” and deprived them of food, sleep, and hope. Vividly written and impossible to forget, A Thousand Lives is a story of blind loyalty and daring escapes, of corrupted ideals and senseless, haunting loss.

Ratings and reviews

Q. What did you think of this book? A. It was very interesting but horrific. Julia looked into some recently released government documents on this tragedy and interviewed survivors. She then put together a story that held my interest almost throughout. I knew what would ultimately occur, but I did not know who the survivors would be, so that adds tension while reading. Q. So it was pretty horrific, the occurrences? A. Yes, indeed. Jones was a charismatic preacher but he just apparently lost control of his senses and his congregants suffered for it. Julia tells us that over 300 children died at Jonestown, including about 22 newborns or infants who could not even walk. Of course, I asked myself why these little newborns had to die, or were permitted to die by the Higher Power, if there is such a power. Q. Was there an answer in this book? A. No, Julia does not go into the metaphysics of the story very much. Her take seems to be that Jones did go insane, possibly from chronic drug use, and was pretty much entirely responsible for what happened. Well, that seems reasonable, but still, since I do believe in a Higher Power, or try my best to do so, I think these children and newborns were called back to try again, in a new body, that is. This is reincarnation. Q. Does the author mention reincarnation? A. No. She does note that the Jonestown group followed the lead of Jones, though. Jones preached the idea that death was just a step into another world. He did not mention coming back to earth, but he preached that death was not the real end of life. Of course, since he was deeply mentally sick, I would not want to rely on anything he said, but it is possible. Jim Bogue, one of the survivors, said his deceased daughter, Marilee, came to him as a spirit and told him not to worry. Another survivor, Hyacinth Thrash, also had visions of her deceased sister. So there may be hope, I mean hope that these little children will get another chance at life. Q. And if that is the case, you may, too, get another chance? A. Yes, and I need it, because even though I had nothing to do with this tragedy and knew none of the participants, I still feel a sense of guilt. Q. Why would you feel guilty? A. Well, because Jones was human, even though he was sick. Still, he was human. The people that helped him, the young women, the guards, they were all human, just as I am. I am as much at fault as any of them, that is how I see it. Q. That may be going overboard with the penance a bit? A. Well, that is what reincarnation is for, to resolve karmic guilt and do better next time. But that is all just a notion. Let us wait and see.

About the author

Julia Scheeres is the author of New York Times bestselling memoir Jesus Land. She lives in Berkeley, California with her husband and two daughters and is a member of the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto.