ONLINE FIRST
published on November 5, 2024
Jonathan Cahana Blum
https://doi.org/10.5840/asrr2024114118
Whose Mistakes?
This review article argues that Kenneth G. C. Newport¡¯s book on the Branch Davidans of Waco, the most comprehensive research to have been published to date on this subject, is deeply flawed and biased. It is argued that Newport often downplays, misrepresents, or outright withholds evidence that would not fit with the suicidal picture he wishes to draw for the Branch Davidians in general and for David Koresh in particular, and that he leaves the most important questions not only unanswered, but even unasked. The bias that hampers this book from being a truly critical academic scholarship is clarified, and the interrelated and dangerous politics it substantiates is criticized.