I knew very little about Scientology before I listened to Inside Scientology. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Scientology and hearing the stories (some of them horror stories) of former Scientologists. Listening to the book prompted me to also do my own research (to fact check some of the book) and I learned even more.

I was curious about the church. The book covers mostly the history and scandal surrounding Scientology. I found it interesting.

Reitman's book comes across as well-researched and thorough. There is enough in the background, history, and portrait of LRH to discredit Scientology as a cult movement without even getting to the so-called "church's" policies and practices. Reitman not only takes the listener behind the curtain, but deep into the holy of holies of this secretive and litigious organization.

Probably not, as none of my friends have any curiosity in scientology.

Prior to this I listened to Shattered Dreams: My Life As A Polygamist's Wife by Irene Spencer which gave one woman's firsthand account of another religion/cult that I know little about.

I expected a story but this read as a newspaper article. Given that context I could not submerge into the material as I would have if told from a firsthand account.

Scientology, created in 1954 by a prolific sci-fi writer named L. Ron Hubbard, claims to be the world's fastest-growing religion, with millions of members around the world and huge financial holdings. Its celebrity believers keep its profile high, and its teams of "volunteer ministers" offer aid at disaster sites such as Haiti and the World Trade Center. But Scientology is also a notably closed faith, harassing journalists and others through litigation and intimidation, even infiltrating the highest levels of government to further its goals. Its attacks on psychiatry and its requirement that believers pay as much as tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars for salvation have drawn scrutiny and skepticism. And ex-members use the Internet to share stories of harassment and abuse.

Now Janet Reitman offers the first full journalistic history of the Church of Scientology, in an even-handed account that at last establishes the astonishing 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 worldwide spiritual corporation with profound control over its followers and even ex-followers.

Based on five years of research, unprecedented access to church officials, confidential documents, and extensive interviews with current and former Scientologists, this is the defining book about a little-known world.

No, her other writing is outside of my area of interest.

It was fine - a narrator really has to hit it out of the park to get an above average rating from me.

This is 13+ hours of the history of scientology. It is very dry and detail oriented. There are no central characters to gravitate towards making it difficult for me to invest in.

Having been in a cult myself, I was impressed by the accuracy and understanding shown by the author.

Everything you ever wanted to know about scientology but were at loss for someone to ask.

Needham makes a compelling case why Big Data technologies like Hadoop are allowing more and more companies and researchers work at internet speed and scale. The super computer clustering capabilities at unbelievably low costs will change everything for companies struggling to keep up with the Von Newman centric computing paradigms that just can't keep up.

I would recommend this interesting read.

It didn't seem to go out of its way to ridicule the subject. It seems like a fairly comprehensive history and benefits from testimonials given by various ex-members.

This is the second book I listened to narrated by Stephen. It was a non-fiction as well. He has a good steady voice for this type of book. There was something distracting about his voice when I first started listening to him, but the distraction did not last long.

Not in one sitting. It is a compelling book, but found I needed a break from time to time. The way people were treated was pretty creepy.

One of the parts of the book that really struck me was about a celebrity who was working his way up through the organization until he reached the part about Zorg. His response was something like "What's all this Science Fiction shit" and he stormed out. They went to work on him and eventually sucked him back in. Pretty persuasive.

I can't say.

When you see how they treated one of their own, causing her death. Also the cover up after.

Yes, I thought the narration was very good.

The book makes you want to listen to find out what else these people would do.

this covers a subject that is mostly hidden, but we have all heard. I had no idea that this cult was this bad. The things that they do and have done should be stopped and they should be in prison. This book really brings home the threat that this group presents to us all.

No. I was ignorant about Scientology , now I'm not.

How desperate people are imprisoned by false teaching.

Comfortable voice.

Seduction of the beautiful.

I hope that this is only the beginning to exposing this destructive cult. I'll be relieved when one day it crumbles into the dust.

I got this book as the only one on a $4.95 list that I wanted, but I enjoyed it very much. I thought I knew a lot about Scientology, but this book goes far beyond the basics and is impeccably researched. There are other personal accounts by ex-members, but this has to be the definitive one done by a reporter. She didn't mention any harassment she has personally received, but one wonders.

The author takes a low-key, objective approach and lets the information stand for itself, which works well. Everything in Scientology is already so over-the-top, presenting it in a cool manner grounds the story. It's hard to believe that we could have and allow to happen such things happening in Scientology in democratic countries. I'm all in favour of religious freedom, but Scientology manipulates that human right for wrong purposes.

The epilogue for me was a bit odd, where I think the writer allowed in her own feelings, but that didn't detract from the overall experience. It's an important book containing information everyone should know.