Inside the World of Warren Jeffs: The Power of Polygamy

Using the FLDS raid in Texas, it allowed me to see that religion can have a profoundly psychological powerful effect on people's thought processes, and the extent of this control. I could not voluntarily imagine consenting to have a daughter 'married' off to somebody old enough to at least be her father. I also would like to definitively know who the father of my children are, personally being creeped out by group pregnancies. The book stresses that the effects of religion program the followers of the FLDS to honestly believe that this is 'the right thing' for them and their families, however they are arranged. Not defending the practices, it provides outsiders such as myself with a fresh examination of why people end up in these places and the improbability of voluntarily leaving. We could not get such a perspective from either reading the newspaper and/or watching our local newscasts. While focusing on rescuing the children, those mediums were ignoring how their parents originally arrived at the ranch. So such a book fils a critical information void which had been previously unadressed. It's not going to ever be a best-seller, let alone in the upcoming year. But this title might help clear the air about a story remaining in the headlines.

First of all, this was a great book! Somewhere in the middle of the book, I went from feeling very sorry for these women, to actually being sort of mad at them. Some of these same women continued to find yet another Polygamy family even after leaving a horrible one. I feel mostly sorry for the children :( Great book otherwise !!

I could not put this book down. I ordered it in a time where polygamy was all over the news. A ranch down in Texas was raided & 400+ children taken out of there, with only 100+ mothers. I thought this book really gave you a great idea of what it was like to live believing in this horrible religion of FDLS. It is sickening. I found it to be horrifying that young boys are tossed out of the community as to not be "competition" with the old men for the child bearing women!! I can't even believe there are people in the world that would believe this type of thing, but this book really gave me an understaing first hand of what it really is like. As a woman, you are basically stuck, you have no rights of your own, your children can be taken from you & raised as someone else's & you can be given to another husband if someone else sees fit. The "first wife" keeps track of the "sister wives" menstrual cycles, as to know when to let them sleep with her husband to produce as many children as they can. Children are abused, as are sister wives most times. Sometimes only the MAIN family eat well, dress well, etc, depending on the views of the husband. The sister wives & children eat scraps & ketchup sandwiches & wear rags, sewn together, while the first wife & their children together eat like royalty & wear new clothes. All to get a good spot in Heaven. I love this book, it is a bizarre religion, so I was in AWE alot, but it is a great inside view of their life. I read this book in 3 days flat. It was wonderful!

Dear Professor Western: I LOVED YOUR BOOK. My teacher says it was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. I have read a lot of books on polygamy, but I liked yours the best of all because it talks about all kinds of polygamous groups in America. It really is a different "world". I intend to do my research paper on your study. I was sorry to hear that some polygamous people are giving you a hard time for telling the truth. I THINK THE MEDIA AND EVERYBODY SHOULD READ THIS BOOK BECAUSE IT SO DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHER 'ESCAPE' TYPE BOOKS. It explains why polygamist men behave like they do, and all their different doctrines--fascinating. Keep up the good work, I learned a lot. - Thanks Rick.