Waco

November 28, 2022
Journalist Guinn (War on the Border) documents in this comprehensive and judicious account the 1993 raid by ATF agents on the Branch Davidians’ Mount Carmel compound near Waco, Tex. In 1992, the ATF gathered evidence that sect leader David Koresh and his followers were illegally purchasing and altering guns with the intent of selling them or using them in a plot “to bring about the end of the world.” Though the ATF’s plan to seize the weapons hinged on the element of surprise, when that was lost—a tipped-off TV cameraman asked someone he didn’t know was a Branch Davidian for the compound’s address—ATF commanders decided to go ahead anyway. Four federal agents were killed in the resulting gunfight, which devolved into a seven-week standoff that ended after the compound was destroyed in a fire (Guinn suggests the blaze was either an accident or started by the Branch Davidians). Seventy-six Branch Davidians died in the conflagration, including Koresh, who appears to have been shot in a murder-suicide pact with a high-ranking member of the sect. The disaster inspired Timothy McVeigh’s bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City, and Guinn also persuasively links it to the January 6 Capitol insurrection. Scrupulous and frequently enthralling, this is a sobering account of a tragedy woven into the fabric of modern America.

January 1, 2023
The tragic rise and fall of a dangerous Christian sect. Guinn's well-rounded examination of the Branch Davidians begins in early 1993 during a 51-day federal siege on David Koresh's heavily guarded compound. As the author recounts, a biblical prophecy that foretold the end of the world compelled Koresh and his followers to stockpile a large cache of weapons within the confines of the Mount Carmel Center, on a 77-acre plot of land outside of Waco. Having surveilled Koresh and his group for months, the government agents meticulously calculated their raid operation. In addition to chronicling the firefight and fire that killed 76 Branch Davidians, the author scrutinizes the legacy of the Davidian movement and the executive hierarchy that ushered in a succession of self-proclaimed modern-day prophets. Guinn naturally focuses on Vernon Wayne Howell, a young man hungering for spiritual guidance. Believing that God "communicated with him," he eventually transformed himself into David Koresh, the final leader of the Branch Davidian religious cult. Described as a man obsessed with the apocalyptic teachings of the book of Revelation, he demanded loyalty and frequently cited Scripture to justify his reprehensible behavior. His preoccupation with amassing fully automatic artillery for a looming "battle" drew the attention of federal officials. After an investigation, they attempted a surprise raid, but a leak put Koresh and his followers on high alert, leading up to the seven-week impasse. In riveting detail, Guinn describes the high-tension ordeal, drawing on a wealth of new information, including several eyewitness accounts. As the author did in previous reports on Charles Manson and Jonestown, Guinn dives deeply into his subject to present a vivid combination of well-researched facts, personal testimonials, and controversial perspectives. A convincing and chilling coda to this investigation is the correlations Guinn draws among the Davidian compound raid, the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, and the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. An engrossing report on David Koresh and the endurance of cult culture.

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January 1, 2023
Following Manson (2013) and The Road to Jonestown (2017), investigative journalist Guinn considers another cult leader and the people he inspired in this history of David Koresh and the events at Waco, Texas. The Branch Davidians had been around for three decades when, in 1984, Koresh became their leader and anointed himself the Lamb of Revelation, which lined up perfectly with the Davidians' belief in prophets. While the Davidians had been investigated for child abuse, Koresh's stockpile of guns, in preparation for the coming war with Babylon, were the only ""proof"" of wrongdoing, leading to a fateful shootout with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The subsequent weeks-long standoff ended in a nationally televised fire that killed most of the sect, including Koresh. Guinn focuses on the standoff and the myriad bad decisions by the ATF and the FBI, capably tracing a throughline to the increase in anti-government hate groups. Readers may be left wanting more on the provocative idea of Waco's continued influence, but overall this is extremely well done and thought-provoking.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.