The Ashes of Waco: An Investigation

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Syracuse University Press, Apr 1, 1998 - History - 320 pages
This is the story the daily press didn't give us. It may be the definitive book about what happened at Mt. Carmel, near Waco, Texas, examined from both sides—the Bureau of Alcohol and Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and the FBI on one hand, and David Koresh and his followers on the other. Dick J. Reavis contends that the government had little reason to investigate Koresh and even less to raid the compound at Mt. Carmel. The government lied to the public about most of what happened—about who fired the first shots, about drug allegations, about child abuse. The FBI was duplicitous and negligent in gassing Mt. Carmel-and that alone could have started the fire that killed seventy-six people. Drawing on interviews with survivors of Koresh's movement (which dates back to 1935), as well as from esoteric religious tracts and audiotapes, and previously undisclosed government documents, Reavis uncovers the real story of the burning at Waco, including the trial that followed. The author quotes from Koresh himself to create an extraordinary portrait of a movement, an assault, and an avoidable tragedy.
 

Contents

Introduction
11
Mr Retardo
23
Showtime
31
Enter the Press
39
The Third Angels Message
51
The Bulgarian and the Goddess
58
The Flatfoot
66
Poor George
74
Dogs and Doors
137
Myths at the Door
143
Up on the Roof and Down in the Gym
151
The Second Floor
162
The Element of Surprise
177
The Second Shooting
190
Talks
200
The Suicide Pact
215

The SemiLiterate Messiah
83
Gods Flying Machines
93
The Seven Seals
102
Winning in the Bedroom
111
The Governments Flying Machines
120
Milk and Other Hassles
221
Allies
236
The Psywar
258
Justice
278
Copyright

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About the author (1998)

Dick J. Reavis was a 1990 Nieman Fellow in Journalism. He has been a Senior Editor of Texas Monthly, a reporter for the Dallas Observer, and a business correspondent for the San Antonio Light, and has written for numerous publications. He is the author of several books, including Conversations with Moctezuma and Fodor's Texas.

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