This is a much expanded, revised and fully updated version of David Barrett's earlier guide and source book Sects, 'Cults' & Alternative Religions. The objective and informative nature of its contents were applauded on both sides of the Atlantic. The membership of a wide range of religious and other movements is ever-growing, and continues to cause very mixed reactions -- from both non-members and the families of members, and from the media. This book is both a response to this, a valuable aid to the concerned and perplexed, and also a unique source of information to anyone with an interest in unconventional beliefs. New information includes ten chapters exploring such contentious issues as brainwashing, what families of members can do, the difficulties of leaving movements, millennial beliefs, and 'cults that kill'. It then explores the ever-growing variations of mainstream beliefs, and alternatives to them, in over 65 entries under such headings as Christian Origins (Jehovah's Witnesses, Moonies, Jesus Army, the former Children of God), Eastern Movements in the West (Transcendental Meditation, Hare Krishna, Soka Gakkai), Esoteric & Neo-Pagan (Satanic Ritual Abuse, Theosophy, Golden Dawn, Wicca, Druidry) and Personal Development (Insight, Emin, Scientology). Constantly newsworthy, the activities of such movements and of their members requires a comprehensive survey and explanation of their beliefs and practices. The New Believers is such a source of information -- without parallel.

Book jacket.