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The holocaust at Waco, Texas, makes this a particularly provocative and timely book. The early portion of the book (chapters 1-3) is a sensitive and detailed presentation of the history of a couple caught within a generic cultic web. It presents a particularly useful and interesting analysis of the endless rationalizations that enable otherwise sensible and sensitive individuals to participate in destructive and self-destructive behavior. Deikman has performed a notable service by highlighting the steps and the group phenomena that lead to cultic behavior superseding mainstream desires, demands, and morality. He reminds us that, whatever their ostensible status within the group, many members of cults are themselves victims of the cult leader's abuse of power—and that their recovery entails their reexamining this status and position.
The second portion of the book (chapters 4-7) contains many useful insights but seems less focused than the earlier portion. Welcome is Deikman's use of Barbara Tuchman's concept of “woodenheadedness” rather than conspiracy as being a major factor in the decision-making process. Clearly, in the world after the Persian Gulf conflict, an emphasis on war as the product of stupidity rather than calculation is particularly relevant. And, the hecatombs at Waco, where the Branch Davidians were perceived as “others,” and the continuing massacres in Bosnia-Hercegovina make Deikman's cautions all the more timely. Nonetheless, the wise and insightful examination of group phenomena that characterizes the early part of the book seems diffused as Deikman extends the scope of his inquiry into an examination of almost every aspect of modern American history.