I've recently become quite the Krakauer fan. I bought this book at the airport in San Diego, and had a hard time putting it down once I started. Under the banner of heaven is essentially an expose on fundamentalist Mormons and their practice of polygamy. Not being Mormon, I just don't get most of their belief, rituals, or practices. But the book was fascinating nonetheless.
After a woman and her infant daughter were killed by her brother-in-law claiming to have been told by God to commit murder, Krakauer attempts to reveal secrets of what men and women will do in the name of religion. It brings up the age old debate of faith versus science. People of all religions can find religious justification in religious texts to explain almost any types of behavior. Taking that macroscopic view, Krakauer narrows that concept down to just Mormonism. The result is interesting.
I enjoy reading about different religions, especially facets of certain religions like polygamy that are so alien to me. One of the benefits of reading Mormon history is that most of it happened in the US.
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