Cult City

“Revisionist history at its delightful best … Cult City is a scrupulously researched and sharply written story about the cruel sovereignty of politics in the allocation of glory and disgrace.” —Wall Street Journal”Cult City unravels the mythology surrounding the Jonestown massacre and the Harvey Milk–George Moscone assassinations to reveal the shocking truth that rebuts the narrative that stubbornly remains forty years later. That narrative cannot withstand this book. Through scores of interviews and archival research, Daniel J. Flynn, an amazing storyteller blessed with an amazing story, exposes the political corruption and media malfeasance that helped to portray one of the world’s great villains as one of San Francisco’s great citizens.” —Peter Schweizer, bestselling author of Secret Empires>“A bold, at times shocking work of revisionist history that challenges what we think we know about both [Jim Jones and Harvey Milk] and the murderous events that brought them to national prominence.“—Rod Dreher, The American Conservative”In this book, very obviously augmented with hours of research and investigation, Daniel presents a horror story more frightening than any contemporary film, and in doing so he brings into focus the real personalities of two men whose names will never be forgotten. One of the many reasons the book is so impressive is Daniel’s writing style… . This style of prose and reportage magnetizes the reader, now able to learn facts not legend… . This is an extraordinary book, copiously annotated and indexed, is a must read for all caring people. The truth is out and we must cope. Highly Recommended.” —San Francisco Review of Books”Daniel Flynn blows away some major myths surrounding [Jones and Milk]… . For all but the willfully blind, Cult City will an asset of lasting value.” —FrontPage Magazine”Many misconceptions surround [the Jonestown massacre], but a new account dispels some common myths. Cult leader Jim Jones is often portrayed as having been a normal fundamentalist Christian preacher. But as Daniel Flynn shows in Cult City, Jones believed ‘the Bible is the root of all our problems today,’ and he sought to ‘infiltrate the church’ to spread the communist message.” —The Daily Caller”A truly remarkable work detailing San Francisco’s descent into multicultural madness in the 1970s.” —American Thinker”Flynn tackles not one, but two 20th century American historical figures in Cult City… . Cult City is not only an eye-opening exposé on Jones and Milk, but on the politicians and Hollywood elites who allied with them and celebrated their ideals and movements.” —The Daily Wire”A compelling history that looks at two pivotal events of the 1970s … Extensively researched and well-cited.” —The Federalist“Revisionist history at its delightful best … Cult City is a scrupulously researched and sharply written story about the cruel sovereignty of politics in the allocation of glory and disgrace.” —Wall Street Journal”Cult City unravels the mythology surrounding the Jonestown massacre and the Harvey Milk–George Moscone assassinations to reveal the shocking truth that rebuts the narrative that stubbornly remains forty years later. That narrative cannot withstand this book. Through scores of interviews and archival research, Daniel J. Flynn, an amazing storyteller blessed with an amazing story, exposes the political corruption and media malfeasance that helped to portray one of the world’s great villains as one of San Francisco’s great citizens.” —Peter Schweizer, bestselling author of Secret Empires>“A bold, at times shocking work of revisionist history that challenges what we think we know about both [Jim Jones and Harvey Milk] and the murderous events that brought them to national prominence.“—Rod Dreher, The American Conservative”In this book, very obviously augmented with hours of research and investigation, Daniel presents a horror story more frightening than any contemporary film, and in doing so he brings into focus the real personalities of two men whose names will never be forgotten. One of the many reasons the book is so impressive is Daniel’s writing style… . This style of prose and reportage magnetizes the reader, now able to learn facts not legend… . This is an extraordinary book, copiously annotated and indexed, is a must read for all caring people. The truth is out and we must cope. Highly Recommended.” —San Francisco Review of Books”Daniel Flynn blows away some major myths surrounding [Jones and Milk]… . For all but the willfully blind, Cult City will an asset of lasting value.” —FrontPage Magazine”Many misconceptions surround [the Jonestown massacre], but a new account dispels some common myths. Cult leader Jim Jones is often portrayed as having been a normal fundamentalist Christian preacher. But as Daniel Flynn shows in Cult City, Jones believed ‘the Bible is the root of all our problems today,’ and he sought to ‘infiltrate the church’ to spread the communist message.” —The Daily Caller”A truly remarkable work detailing San Francisco’s descent into multicultural madness in the 1970s.” —American Thinker”Flynn tackles not one, but two 20th century American historical figures in Cult City… . Cult City is not only an eye-opening exposé on Jones and Milk, but on the politicians and Hollywood elites who allied with them and celebrated their ideals and movements.” —The Daily Wire”A compelling history that looks at two pivotal events of the 1970s … Extensively researched and well-cited.” —The Federalist

Daniel J. Flynn, a senior editor at The American Spectator and a 2024–2025 visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution, is the author of six other books, including a forthcoming biography of Frank Meyer.