Waco
A Survivor's Story
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Waco
Buy Now for $26.99
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Narrated by:
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Robert Fass
About this listen
The basis of the celebrated Paramount Network miniseries starring Michael Shannon and Taylor Kitsch - Waco is the critically acclaimed, first person account of the siege by Branch Davidian survivor, David Thibodeau.
Twenty-five years ago, the FBI staged a deadly raid on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. David Thibodeau survived to tell the story.
When he first met the man who called himself David Koresh, David Thibodeau was a drummer in a local a rock band. Though he had never been religious in the slightest, Thibodeau gradually became a follower and moved to the Branch Davidian compound in Waco. He remained there until April 19, 1993, when the compound was stormed and burned to the ground after a 51-day standoff with government authorities.
In this compelling account - now with an updated epilogue that revisits remaining survivors - Thibodeau explores why so many people came to believe that Koresh was divinely inspired. We meet the men, women, and children of Mt. Carmel. We get inside the day-to-day life of the community. We also understand Thibodeau's brutally honest assessment of the United States government's actions. The result is a memoir that sounds like a thriller, with each minute taking us closer to the eventual inferno.
©1999 David Thibodeau (P)2018 Hachette AudioCritic Reviews
"Thibodeau, one of only four Branch Davidians to live through the Waco disaster and not be sentenced to jail, has produced a surprisingly balanced and honest account of his time as a Branch Davidian. Neither sensationalist nor defensive, this will make satisfying reading for anyone interested in the April 1993 tragedy." (Kirkus Reviews)
"A disquieting portrait of a religious community and its enigmatic leader." (Kirkus Reviews)
"This book gives a rare glimpse of life at Mount Carmel and an account of how that attack contrasts with the 'official' government version. With the renewed interest in this siege, this book is recommended for public libraries." (School Library Journal)
Interesting
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It was hard to listen to due to my feeling that the author is still under the influence of David Koresh. And it’s so obviously a cult that I couldn’t believe the author is anything but deluded still.
The performance was excellent and great reader.
An Incredibly One Sided Story
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The other side if the coin
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The other side of Waco
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Wow.
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This was a difficult one for me to rate.
David Thibodeau is a survivor of the Waco disaster when 70+ people died in a seige lasting more than a month. This is his (very bias) story of what happened and how he came to join the Branch Davidian cult.
I am personally glad that I read this account before reading an account written by on of the law enforcement officers. Thibodeau writes very articulately and delves into the experience, but I feel like this book was an attempt to lay pure blame at the hands of the American Federal Government and he does not seek to take any of the responsibility for what happened.
David Thibodeau had an experience. It was unique and unlike any other. It was his experience and his life for more than two years. However, his perspective is skewed. It seems to me that Thibodeau has spent many years trying to come to terms with what happened but still cannot remove himself from the situation enough to see that many of the people at Mount Carmel were to blame for what happened on April 19th 1993 and in the ensuring days.
What bothers me is that even some 25 years later (I read the revised version), Thibodeau is still unable to come to terms with the fact that David Koresh was not a good person. He was a criminal, and just because he claimed to be a prophet and spoke the word of good does not undo the horrible things he did. Thibodeau was constantly making excuses for Koresh and completely glossed over the fact that Koresh was a rapist. Koresh willing engaged in sex with girls as young as 12 years old. That is criminal and disgusting. In a closed community, where a man is held up on a pedestal, how can I young girl give informed consent to have sex? She cannot. Thibodeau never condemns this behaviour by Koresh, and in-fact tries to justify it to himself and accuses one girl of being a liar.
Infact, if we really want to get down to the nitty gritty, Thibodeau actually aided Koresh in his rape of young girls by agreeing to marry Michelle- this was a clear attempt to get the authorities to stop looking closely at Michelle and who the father of her three children where. He admitted that the marriage was a sham, therefore, he clearly understood the reasons for his marriage. It was done in order to allow Koresh to keep having sex with Michelle without the authorities getting involved.
Thibodeau does present a few valid points about the siege. The government did a horrific job of addressing the situation. It was badly mishandled, and the government should have taken a good hard long look at their procedures after this event. Most of the victims of the Waco tradgedy were innocent and did not deserve to die- especially in the horrific and terrifying manner that they experienced. The excessive violence and cruel siege tactics that of the ATF was out of line, especially with so many children on the premise. The media was also a bit hasty to condemn the entire compound without really acknowledging that they too were victims of cruelty.
Overall, I look forward to reading more balanced accounts of the siege. My heart goes out to Thibodeau over his experiences, he was , after all is said and done- another victim of David Koresh.
A very unbalanced account...
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worth the listen, two sides to every story!
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