Spying in Guru Land

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William Shaw's acclaimed account of his incursions into the covert world of cults.Shaw spent a year infiltrating some of Britain's most secretive cults and religious groups, including the Emin, the Jesus Army, the Aetherius Society, Krishna Consciousness and Chrisemma (run by Chris and Emma in Totnes), in order to investigate the labyrinthine world of Guru Land. In the midst of our secular society, he finds a complex alternative culture where acolytes endure dark privations, perform arcane ceremonies, and submit willingly to their new masters.Attending countless meetings and 'workshops', and in several cases seeming to become a signed-up member of the group, Shaw goes against the advice of self-styled experts to find a truer picture of cult members than has so far been given by a sensationalist media.