The World's Greatest Cults

by Nigel Cawthorne

Part of a series of books which examines real-life stories that have made newspaper headlines around the world, this looks at cults. Other titles available include "The World's Greatest Blunders" and "The World's Greatest Crooks and Conmen".

Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Nigel Cawthorne is an Anglo-American writer of fiction and non-fiction, and an editor. He has written more than 80 books on a wide range of subjects and has contributed to The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph Daily Mail and The New York Times. He has appeared on television and BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Many of Nigel Cawthorne's books are compilations of popular history, without footnotes, references or bibliographies. His own web site refers to a description of his home as a "book-writing factory" and says, "More than half my books were commissioned by publishers and packagers for a flat fee or for a for a reduced royalty".

One of his most notable works was Taking Back My Name, an autobiography of Ike Turner, with whom he spent a number of weeks working with him on, taking up residence in Turner's house. The book caused much controversy, resulting in court cases for three years following its release.

Cawthorne currently lives in Bloomsbury, London with his girlfriend and son, Colin (born 1982).

Reviews

[Donna Ledesma · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am a Christian. years ago, when i was still naive and my spiritual life shallow, i could read this book. although i can only get so far. i just read probably 40% of it.

not that i can't read this anymore. however it's that, just seeing the cover makes me feel bad. i don't understand the mentality of these people. i can't deny the fact that books like this are really interesting. but now i refuse to be entertained with these kinds of stories.

together with The World's Greatest Serial Killers, the stories here are horrifying, depressing.

preposterous.

[Beth Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had this book for years and never really picked it it. I now know more about cults than I ever really wanted to know, though I'm sure it'll be useful some day.

[Anya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cults are absolutely fascinating and I will always be interested in this topic. Some of the chapters in this book were interesting, yet many (including the many religious cults) were quite dry, feeling more like a Wikipedia cut and paste than an actual book. I would also like to hear more about the conditions needed for a cult to form or which type of person joins a cult, perhaps personal interviews of people who were in a cult and escaped would be more my thing than dry (and often gory and shocking) facts.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars, not because I didn't find the book interesting or informative, but because it contained several appalling evidences that it has never been proofread before its publication.

[Courtney Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was exceptional, filled with knowledge, including cults I had never heard of or only heard about in passing. I'd recommend this to anyone who likes this genre

[Jana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just fantastic. It widens many things: behavior, modern day drugs, sexual perversities and suicidal tendencies.

[Joseph.moorcroft · Rating 5 out of 5]

good book very interesting and a good read

[Bernard Armstrong · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're already familiar with most of the cults, you would most likely know most of the information listed. But for the ones you haven't heard of, it's a fairly interesting guide.

[Diane in Australia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars = I liked the book. I'm glad I read it.