Reader Score
81%
81% of readers
recommend this book
Critic Reviews
Great
Based on 9 reviews on
For the first time in thirty years, more than a dozen former ATF agents who participated in the initial February 28, 1993, Waco raid speak on the record about the poor decisions of their commanders that led to this deadly confrontation. The revelations in this book include why the FBI chose to end the siege with the use of CS gas; how both ATF and FBI officials tried and failed to cover up their agencies' mistakes; where David Koresh plagiarized his infamous prophecies; and direct links between the Branch Davidian tragedy and the modern militia movement in America. Notorious conspiracist Alex Jones is a part of the Waco story. So much is new and stunning.
Guinn puts you alongside the ATF agents as they embarked on the disastrous initial assault, unaware that the Davidians knew they were coming and were armed and prepared to resist. His you-are-there narrative continues to the final assault and its momentous consequences. Drawing on this new information, including several eyewitness accounts, Guinn again does what he did with his bestselling books about Charles Manson and Jim Jones, revealing "gripping" (Houston Chronicle) new details about a story that we thought we knew.
Paula Poundstone is a comedian, author, and podcast host.
I just finished listening to WACO by Jeff Guinn. It's very good. It sounds like no one ever asked, nor answered why the Branch Davidians were stockpiling all of those guns. There are no good reasons.
"… Jeff Guinn has written a detailed account of the Branch Davidian confrontation and its legacy, drawing in part on interviews with federal agents who were barred from talking to reporters for years after the incident, and have some harsh criticisms of the operation."
Chris Vognar is a culture writer.
Finished Jeff Guinn’s upcoming book on Waco, the raid/siege at Mount Carmel and the legacy of rage it all left. Like everything Guinn writes, it is fair, thoughtful, empathetic and doggedly reported. He talked to *a lot* of people.