• Under the Banner of Heaven

  • A Story of Violent Faith
  • By: Jon Krakauer
  • Narrated by: Scott Brick
  • Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (8,849 ratings)

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Under the Banner of Heaven  By  cover art

Under the Banner of Heaven

By: Jon Krakauer
Narrated by: Scott Brick
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Publisher's summary

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the author of Into the Wild and Into Thin Air, this extraordinary work of investigative journalism takes readers inside America’s isolated Mormon Fundamentalist communities. • Now an acclaimed FX limited series streaming on HULU.

“Fantastic.... Right up there with In Cold Blood and The Executioner’s Song.” —San Francisco Chronicle

Defying both civil authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City, the renegade leaders of these Taliban-like theocracies are zealots who answer only to God; some 40,000 people still practice polygamy in these communities.

At the core of Krakauer’s book are brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a commandment from God to kill a blameless woman and her baby girl. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this appalling double murder, Krakauer constructs a multi-layered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, polygamy, savage violence, and unyielding faith. Along the way he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America’s fastest growing religion, and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief.

©2003 Jon Krakauer (P)2003 Books on Tape, Inc., Published by arrangement with Random House Audio Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Scrupulously reported and written with Krakauer’s usual exacting flair, Under the Banner of Heaven is both illuminating and thrilling. It is also the creepiest book anyone has written in a long time—and that’s meant as the highest possible praise.” —Newsweek

“Powerfully illuminating. . . . Almost every section of the book is fascinating in its own right, and together the chapters make a rich picture. . . . An arresting portrait of depravity.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Illuminating . . . provocative. . . . Krakauer is an adept chronicler of extremists [and] the tour guide of choice for secular quests.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review

What listeners say about Under the Banner of Heaven

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting @ arm's length

As an outsider, it's often easy to make assumptions about a religion's morality and values. But looking beyond the inflamatory language that the author resorts to in certain areas of the book (indicating his biases), I found this book to be quite insightful and informative about the history behind the LDS and FLDS faiths, as well as the geographical and logistical aspects of their beliefs/practices. It is very evident that the author has done extensive research for this book, and does a good job providing historical background information to shed light on present practices/situations. From my own protestant christian upbringing, I had a very limited perspective/understanding of the LDS faith, and I think this book helped to clarify many points. I found other areas of the book quite disturbing and struggled to keep in mind that the actions of individuals within a religion do not necessarily reflect the morals of the whole. Written as a scholarly approach toward something like religion (which is ultimately "irrationally" based), I think the author does a pretty good job trying to be informative rather than judgemental. The one downfall of the audiobook is that it does not include the bibliography, footnotes, and appendecis that are contained in the hard-copy. Included in these was a letter from the head of the LDS with their assessment of the book, and a then a counter response from the author with clarifications/corrections and closing arguments.

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98 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Makes you think

I loved this book, both the story and narration. Scott Brick is a very relaxed reader, and doesn't try too hard to pull off voices.

I can understand why some would be offended by this book, and as a Christian there were some statements about religious people in general that bothered me. However, this book made me think, and is clearly not about mainstream mormons, but rather fundamentalists. The author isn't even "against" only mormon fundamentalists, but fundamentalists of all kinds.

This is well worth a listen

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71 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

interesting

I read this book. While it was not as enthralling as 'Into Thin Air' or 'Into the Wild' I found it to be a good book nonetheless. Krakauer devoted most of the book to the history of mormonism and (mormon) fundamentalism. As was the case in 'Into the Wild', the author seems to be interested in extremes in psychology and especially the border between eccentric behavior -such as positive human traits carried to negative extremes- and psychopathology. I felt I understood the psychology of the murders better at the end, which was the goal of the book. Considering the nature of the crime they committed, it was no small achievement for Krakauer to explain these brothers' thinking to his audience. I look forward to Krakauer's next book. A word of warning: this is not bedtime reading/listening. It is very disturbing. Therefore, I reccomend that you listen to it in the car rather than read it in bed. That said, I am glad I read it, and I hope it will be worth your while too.

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55 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Powerful story and well read by the author

I tend to like audiobooks that are read by the author. You get the emotion in the places that the book meant to relay them. This story has a very powerful message. Although the book most certainly focuses on the Mormon religion, the author makes it clear that his intent is to discuss "Faith" in general. But, with so many different religions in the world and all having their own set of rules which require unabashed faith in order to be truly religious, the author had to pick one religion to get his point across. So he picked the one that he was most familiar with as well as one that was news worthy. The tale he tells of the murder of a mother and her 15 month old daughter, by her brother-in-laws no less, is at times gruesome, but always interesting. As far as I can tell, I'm not of the Mormon religion, the history of the Mormon church is detailed very nicely in this book. From it's founding in the 1800's by Joseph Smith, to the state it is in today, he details the trials and tribulations that have transpired in order for this, 2nd fastest growing religion in the world, to survive. I listened to this book from begining to end in one sitting. If you like murder mysteries based on fact, this book is for you. If you like books on spirituality, this book is for you. If you like history, this book might be a good listen for you. Give it a shot, you may be surprised at what you learn!

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47 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

More History than Murder Mystery

This book is written as a historical account of how the mormon chuch came about. It explains how the American government interfered in mormon ideals. The clash caused a split in the base of mormon faith and the result was mormon fundamentalism. Persecuted by non-believers(gentiles) across the United States to Utah, Brigham Young encouraged the fundamentalist faction in secret from members opposed to extremist ideas after Joseph Smith was murdered for his outspoken conviction. The Lafferty brothers were fundamentalists. This book tries to clarify the reasoning behing the murders by exposing the psychology behind this fervent faith.
I can understand how mormon church members will be outraged by this title, even though Jon Krakauer's references and documentation of history are unarguable. I learned a lot from this book and grew up quite familiar with the LDS church. The fundamentalist mormon is uncommon and a minority when compared to the membership of the general church. They are not recognized as true members by those who practice present-day guidelines.
Krakauer ties history in well with personal interviews and contemporary news of the murder of Brenda Lafferty and her baby and the kidnapping account of Elizabeth Smart in Salt Lake City. He gives good insight into the mind of someone who's ideals are utterly possessed or controlled by certainty of doctrine. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in historical or religious fact.

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38 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Books like this are why I prefer non-fiction!

I like a really good novel or literature for relaxation and escape. But real life stories like this are far more interesting. Everyone looking for truth in religion should read this book. The details about the short history of such a popular and fast-growing sect are fascinating, and you find yourself wondering how anyone can buy into the beliefs of the LDS faith, and questioning the basis of any religion, for that matter. The blood-curdling description of the murders done in the name of God are gripping. The long history of child-rape, incest, and brutality is incredible. The description in the killer's own words of the murder of a helpless child were almost more than I could take. I chose this book because Scott Brick is my favorite narrarator. It will be on my list of favorites for a very long time.

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33 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing.

I have this strange interest in the Mormon Faith. I was raised Christian and my mind boggles at how different the beliefs are from what I was taught. I have moved away from my religion as I've grown older and love to read about the other denominations of the Christian Faith that I wasn't exposed to. The writing and reading was just top notch with this one. I would recommend it to anyone. My fiance doesn't like listening to audiobooks so I bought her a hardcopy just so she would read it too. I am definitely going to look into other Krakauer books and anything read by Scott Brick.

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31 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

REVELATION

All Religions
I first read this in 2003 after it first came out. I talked about it so much, that my wife asked to listen to it. Writing about religion has got to be one of the hardest things to do without upsetting someone. Krakauer does occasionally call the Mormon religion, strange or something similar. You would think a good editor would have omitted that. I also had to keep in mind that most religions can be easily made to look strange. I remember teaching a middle school class at my Methodist Church and talking about the Resurrection, when one of the kids, said "Yuck,Jesus was a Zombie". Than of course the sacrament, where we supposedly eat of Jesus's body and drink his blood.

That Being Said
I have always been one to let people do as they want as long as they don't hurt others. That is were the break apart Fundamentalist's of this religion become a problem. Here in America, girls as young as twelve are being raped and made pregnant. Women are beaten and abused. Freedom of religion is one thing, freedom to rape and abuse children must be stopped. Sam Brower has written a follow up book called Prophet's Prey, which is even more revealing and discusses the abandoning of little boys, so as to have more girls to rape.

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23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Not just for people interested in Mormonism

This is a marvelously complex and fascinating book. On the surface it's a history of Mormon fundamentalism, which frankly isn't a topic that's important to most people. But the fascinating history of the Mormon Church is intensely interesting, especially as it reflects the political and social changes of the 19th and 20th centuries. Beyond history, the book addresses some of the basic issues in understanding religious fundamentalism in a pluralistic and supposedly tolerant society.

I came away from this book with a lot of respect for the mainstream LDS church and the suffering of its pioneers and prophets. But the book also forces one to look into the face of the evil deeds that human beings who feel beleaguered and justified by a vengeful God will do to their fellow humans. Because we live in a world now where religious fundamentalism threatens our very existence, it's useful to confront these issues broadly.

The book is also very well read by Krakauer. I was very sorry when it ended. Even though I listened to the unabridged edition, I wanted it to be longer.

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22 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • S
  • 04-18-05

Fundamental Questions

Some reviewers have taken offense to 'The Banner' likely because of their religious views, but if this book had used similar examples from Islam I doubt the same people would have complained. Although it does have a wealth of material about the history of Mormonism and its offspring, the book is not about 'Mormonism' per se. Any unbiased reader will clearly understand it is a book about the dangers of absolute religious fundamentalism in a general sense, no matter the religion. Although most Mormons and Muslims and Jews and Catholics, etc., are fine people, there are questions to be answered regarding the actions of some Semetic descendants who use relgion to suit their own sadistic purposes. The Banner is a psychological and historical study of religion as a whole and it is hard to imagine how anything more than that could be read into it.

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21 people found this helpful