Under the Banner of Heaven

A Story of Violent Faith

By: Jon Krakauer

Narrated by: Jon Krakauer

Length: 5 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

Jon Krakauer’s literary reputation rests on insightful chronicles of lives conducted at the outer limits. In Under the Banner of Heaven, he shifts his focus from extremes of physical adventure to extremes of religious belief within our own borders.

At the core of his audiobook is an appalling double murder committed by two Mormon Fundamentalist brothers, Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a revelation from God commanding them to kill their blameless victims. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this "divinely inspired" crime, Krakauer constructs a multilayered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, savage violence, polygamy, 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.

Krakauer takes listeners inside isolated communities in the American West, Canada, and Mexico, where some 40,000 Mormon Fundamentalists believe the mainstream Mormon Church went unforgivably astray when it renounced polygamy. Defying both civil authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City, the leaders of these outlaw sects are zealots who answer only to God. Marrying prodigiously and with virtual impunity (the leader of the largest fundamentalist church took seventy-five "plural wives," several of whom were wed to him when they were fourteen or fifteen and he was in his eighties), fundamentalist prophets exercise absolute control over the lives of their followers, and preach that any day now the world will be swept clean in a hurricane of fire, sparing only their most obedient adherents.

Weaving the story of the Lafferty brothers and their fanatical brethren with a clear-eyed look at Mormonism's violent past, Krakauer examines the underbelly of the most successful homegrown faith in the United States, and finds a distinctly American brand of religious extremism. The result is vintage Krakauer, an utterly compelling work of nonfiction that illuminates an otherwise confounding realm of human behavior.

©2003 Jon Krakauer (P)2003 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Krakauer lays the portent on beautifully, building his tales carefully from the ground up until they irresistibly, spookily combust." (Kirkus Reviews)
"Krakauer presents details that indeed sound stranger than fiction." (The New York Times)

Uncommonly Good

Don't believe those who say that this book is simplistic, or merely lays the problem of violence at the door of the church. This is a fascinating, well researched book that wants to ask "what is the role of religion in these crimes." Anyone who looks at the world today and does not see a violent dimension to devout faith is not looking very carefully. Under the Banner of Heaven does look carefully and honestly at this subject. Indeed it's actually very kind to Mormonism, despite what the zealots say.

But perhops no ammount of kindness would please them, a people who feel honesty should take a backseat to the promotion of faith.

And to the person who said that these are simply fringe characters who would have been driven to violence in any setting, that's just foolish. The point is not whether they would have been violent athiests, the point is that they were violent Mormons and found support for their beliefs in Mormonism. This book is merely an analysis of that fact, and a very good one.

When a whole history of violent actions coalesces around any set of ideas, it is worthy of scrutiny, be it The Book Of Mormon, or the Matrix.

This book's scrutiny is riveting. You won't be able to put it down.

If you loved Into the Wild...

...you may just love this book. Jon Krauker has an interesting way of telling a story. In Into the Wild he paints the portrait of a pretty exceptional character - Chris McCandless who donated a huge trust fund to a charity and headed out west in search of...well, who knows? It ended in his death by starvation up in Alaska. As we learn about Chris, we learn about other people who had braved the wild in search of a thrill, adventure, or fame. He weaves in and out of history everytime coming back to Chris's story, which kind of connects some reasoning to why he did what it is that he did.

Under the Banner of Heaven is painted the same way in that we start with a tragedy and the auspiciousness of it unfolds throughout the novel. In the course of the novel, he starts to reveal the motivations of the people who committed this horrible act and how these people, fundamentalist mormons, came to believe what they believe. An excellent history of Mormon religion in the United States.

Interesting read.

I thought that Mr. Krakauer did a much better job on this book than on his others. In his other books he always finds a way to stick himself in the book. He reserved that part until the very end. The book is an interesting read and much like any investigative book leans one way or the other, however I thought that Mr. Krakauer did a relatively good job in portraying the lives of the Mormon Fundamentalists. Definately worth the time to read.

Gripping

Who would've thought that the history of the Mormon Church could be a gripping suspense story?

More about fundamentalism than murder

This is very well-written book is more than just a book about a couple of murderers -- to tell the story properly. JK goes to great lengths to put the murders in the context of the FLDS Church, and raises disturbing questions about how far the seperation of church and state can really be allowed to go. He certainly brings up some issues I had never considered.

The narrator is very good, although the narrator is perhaps occasionally over-emphatic. For example, it would have been nice to hear the word "any" said a few times without emphasizing both syllables ("N-E").

Engrossing

I feel that the subject matter was examined very efficiently and objective manner. I found it so interesting, it makes me wish I would have got the unabridged version!

informative but uneven

The abridged version may be the reason for the reason it was hard to follow as it jumped around. It was informative in the history of the Latter Day Saints, but frightening regarding the extreme philosophies of some of the radical members and sects. I work in Utah, and polygamy is not uncommon. As a woman, I learned to use more caution after reading this book.

Great book

the author has a great way of painting a picture and explaining things in a fair and historical way. I would definitely recommend it to anyone.

Compelling true crime story murder sex religion

I found this account much more interesting that Krakauer's story about climbing Mt. Everest (Into Thin Air). I could hardly put it down, and plan to listen to it again very soon.

Krakauer takes a murder from 1984, along with the recent abduction of Elizabeth Smart, and weaves within it, an historical account of the Morman movement. I disagree with anyone who says he blames religion for the violence. Rather, he explains how the texts of religion can be used to justify violence; how anything can be justified so long as one earnestly believes that the actions are the will of the almighty.

The discussion of polygamy (plural marriage) was eye opening. I had not understood how the practice is used to enslave women; or that girl children between 14 and 16 are so often "married" to relatives and then impregnated to ensure their bondage. Krakauer notes that plural marriage has been rejected by the Morman church, and that those who practice it are mostly ex-communicated.

The parallels between fundamental religions (whether Morman - based, Christian based, or based on Islam) is truly amazing. I found it to be fascinating.

Under the Banner of Heaven

This is a fascinating examination of the dark side of fundamentalism in general and of mormonism in particular. I found the history of mormonism to be of special interest. It provides good insight into how this sort of twisted thinking can come to dominate a community and provide a rationale for such things as adultery, pedophilia, and child abuse. Listen to this one for yourself.