IMHOTEP'S PSEUDOSCIENTOLOGY

A large collection of material about the Church of Scientology

A Billion Years
by Mike Rinder
My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology

Mike Rinder started attending a local Church of Scientology International (CSI) center with his parents at age of five. By the time he was fresh out of high school, he signed Sea Org’s billion-year contract. Eventually, Rinder was promoted to Executive Director of the Office of Special Affairs, then served as Scientology’s head spokesperson, and dealt with some of the organization’s highest-profile members, including Tom Cruise. But after almost 50 years as a member, he left CSI in 2007 and has ever since publicly opposed it in film and TV documentaries. In his just-released memoir “A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology,” he exposes the secret inner workings, as well as the dark, dystopian truth about the powerful organization to which he had devoted his life to.

Blown for Good
by Marc Headley
Behind the Iron Curtain of Scientology

Marc Headley provides a rare, never before seen insider’s look at life inside Scientology. He spent 15 years employed at their secret headquarters, the sprawling 500-acre property located deep in the California desert. Could stories of armed guards, weapons, staff beatings, and razor wire fences surrounding the entire property be true? If so, how could a facility like this exist in modern-day America? Hundreds of staff had made attempts to escape over the years. Some had succeeded but had never been seen or heard of again, but most had failed. Marc knew it would not be easy getting out of the Scientology compound. Why were people kept here? Why did more people not attempt to escape over the years? What was it that went on at the International headquarters of Scientology? This is the story of what happened behind the Iron Curtain of Scientology.

The Unbreakable Miss Lovely
by Tony Ortega
How the Church of Scientology Tried to Destroy Paulette Cooper

In 1971 Paulette Cooper wrote a scathing book about the Church of Scientology. Desperate to shut the book down, Scientology unleashed on her one of the most sinister personal campaigns the free world has ever known. The onslaught, which lasted years, drove her to the brink of suicide. The story of Paulette’s terrifying ordeal is told in full for the first time in The Unbreakable Miss Lovely, published by Silvertail Books in London. It reveals the shocking details of the darkest chapter in Scientology’s checkered history, which ended with senior members in prison, and the organization’s reputation permanently damaged.

Battlefield Scientology
by Tony Ortega and Paulette Cooper
Exposing L Ron Hubbard’s Dangerous “Religion”

“Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L.Ron Hubbard’s Dangerous Religion” contains 33 articles (& over 50 photos) from Tony Ortega’s popular blog (“The Underground Bunker) with intros to the 5 sections by Paulette Cooper (“The Scandal of Scientology.”) At last two of the best-known Scientology exposé writers team up to tell the whole story… from Scientology celebrities, (and how the church uses and abuses them) to the Sea Org (Scientology’s highest level where members who join sign billion-year-contracts to work for them throughout their entire lives) to mysterious deaths, to fair game (from the viewpoint of the attackers as well as the victims) to how Hubbard got some of his (weirder) ideas, to Scientology today (including signs of their decline) and much more.
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Scientology
by Amy Scobee
Abuse At The Top

Amy Scobee has written a book unlike any other expose of Scientology. She actually was at the top of International Management for 20 years and oversaw the recruitment of Hollywood stars into the Church of Scientology. She witnessed the abuse of top managers by their senior, David Miscavige. She writes convincingly of the human rights violations she endured while on the Rehabilitation Project Force, a thinly disguised slave labor camp. Her book is enjoyable to insiders and laymen alike, with a glossary of terms provided, and plentiful footnotes. This is an important contribution to understanding the controversy surrounding the Church of Scientology. The glaring spotlight eventually points to Abuse at the Top.

The Scandal of Scientology
by Paulette Cooper
A chilling examination of the nature, beliefs, and practices of the “Now religion.”

Paulette Cooper launched her career as a freelance writer in 1968 after she completed an M.A. degree in psychology and a summer at Harvard studying comparative religion. Her first book, The Scandal of Scientology came out three years later and has been followed by eight others, along with hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles. These she wrote, part-time, to support her full-time crusade to expose Scientology, at a time when few outsiders knew much about the cult, and those who did were generally afraid to speak out. In 1982, the American Society of Journalists and Authors recognized the high personal price she paid to fight Scientology and awarded her the prestigious Conscience in Media Award — one of four writing awards to her credit.

Troublemaker
by Leah Remini
Surviving Hollywood and Scientology

Since the age of 9, King of Queens actress Leah Remini was raised as a Scientologist. She maintained her affiliation with Scientology well into adulthood until, in 2013, she left the church. In her 2015 memoir, Troublemaker, Remini discusses growing up with Scientology, the entangled relationship between the church and Hollywood, as well as the questions and doubts regarding some of the organization’s leadership and practices that led to her eventual disassociation with everything that she thought she knew. Also check out her shocking A&E docuseries, Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath.

Going Clear
by Lawrence Wright
Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief

The basis for the 2015 HBO documentary of the same name, Going Clear was a finalist for the National Book Award, as well as named the best book of the year by over a dozen publications in 2013. Scientology presents itself as a scientific approach to spiritual enlightenment, but its practices have long been shrouded in mystery. Now Lawrence Wright—armed with his investigative talents, years of archival research, and more than two hundred personal interviews with current and former Scientologists—uncovers the inner workings of the church. We meet founder L. Ron Hubbard, the highly imaginative but mentally troubled science-fiction writer, and his tough, driven successor, David Miscavige. We go inside their specialized cosmology and language. We learn about the church’s legal attacks on the IRS, its vindictive treatment of critics, and its phenomenal wealth. We see the church court celebrities such as Tom Cruise while consigning its clergy to hard labor under billion-year contracts. Through it all, Wright asks what fundamentally comprises a religion, and if Scientology in fact merits this Constitutionally-protected label.
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A Piece of Blue Sky
by Jon Atack
Scientology, Dianetics & L. Ron Hubbard Exposed

It was 1950, in the early, heady days of Dianetics, soon after L. Ron Hubbard opened the doors of his first organization to the clamoring crowd. Up until then, Hubbard was known only to readers of pulp fiction, but now he had an instant best-seller with a book that promised to solve every problem of the human mind, and the cash was pouring in. Hubbard found it easy to create schemes to part his new following from their money. One of the first tasks was to arrange “grades” of membership, offering supposedly greater rewards, at increasingly higher prices. Over thirty years later. an associate wryly remembered Hubbard turning to him and confiding, no doubt with a smile, “Let’s sell these people a piece of blue sky.”

Inside Scientology
by Janet Reitman
The Story of America’s Most Secretive Religion

In 2011, Rolling Stone editor Janet Reitman wrote Inside Scientology. After years of dedicated research, she sheds light on “America’s most secretive religion,” including the history of its founder, celebrity attraction, current business model, and most public controversies — including the mysterious death of member Lisa McPherson. With access to confidential documents and extensive interviews with current and former Scientologists, she traces Scientology’s development from the birth of Dianetics to today, following its metamorphosis from a pseudoscientific self-help group to a global spiritual corporation with profound control over its followers and ex-followers. This is a defining book about a little-known world.

Ruthless
by Ron Miscavige
Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me

Ruthless was written by Ron Miscavige (1936 ~ 2021), the father of current Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige. He and his family joined Scientology in 1970, and he worked for The Sea Organization for almost 27 of those years before leaving the Church entirely in 2012. He is a Marine veteran and professional musician. With an insider’s perspective, the riveting bestseller describes the Miscavige family’s introduction to the church, the relationship between David and L. Ron Hubbard, David’s rise to power within the organization, Ron’s personal challenges with leaving the church, and much more. After leaving the church, David Miscavige allegedly hired private investigators to follow Ron and file reports each day about his activities: where he went, what he did, and who he spoke to. In early August 2013, after nearly a year and a half, the PIs slipped up and one was arrested, at which point they confessed the sordid details of what they had been hired to do. When the story was printed in the Los Angeles Times in April 2015 the country was aghast and shock waves spread internationally.

Beyond Belief
by Jenna Miscavige Hill
My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape

Jenna Miscavige Hill, the niece of Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige, was raised as a Scientologist but left the controversial religion in 2005. In Beyond Belief, she shares her true story of life inside the upper ranks of the sect, details her experiences as a member of Sea Org—the church’s highest ministry, speaks of her “disconnection” from family outside of the organization, and tells the story of her ultimate escape.

In this tell-all memoir, complete with family photographs from her time in the Church, Jenna Miscavige Hill, a prominent critic of Scientology who now helps others leave the organization, offers an insider’s profile of the beliefs, rituals, and secrets of the religion that has captured the fascination of millions, including some of Hollywood’s brightest stars such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta.
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Bare Faced Messiah
by Russell Miller
The True Story of Ron Hubbard

There are two wildly conflicting versions of the life story of L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the Church of Scientology. The first was promoted by the Church … according to his “official” biography, Hubbard was an explorer, engineer, scientist, war hero, and philosopher. What is not in dispute is that Hubbard was one of the most bizarre characters of the twentieth century. The second, propounded in its fullest form in Bare-Faced Messiah by Russell Miller, is that he was a pathological liar, a fraud consumed by greed and paranoia who sucked literally millions of people into an extraordinary fantasy world. It quotes extensively from official documents acquired using the Freedom of Information Act and from Hubbard’s personal papers, which were obtained via a defector from Scientology.

The Church of Fear
by John Sweeney
Inside The Weird World of Scientology

For over 10 years, award-winning British journalist John Sweeney investigated the Church of Scientology; during that time, he was reportedly bullied and spied on. His 2013 book, The Church of Fear, details his experiences and uncovers all that he discovered in his years of research. Accounts of both former members who criticize the church as well as tales from those who believe that it will be the saving grace of humanity create the comprehensive and enlightening story that has captivated so many. In The Church of Fear, Sweeney tells the full story of his experiences for the first time and paints a devastating picture of this strange organization, from former Scientologists who tell heartbreaking stories of families torn apart and lives ruined to its current followers – including Tom Cruise and John Travolta – who say it is the solution to many of mankind’s problems.

Inside Scientology/Dianetics
How I Joined Dianetics/Scientology and Became Superhuman
by Robert Kaufman (1995 revision)
The first work ever to disclose the secret Scientology materials.

Dianetics is a “fringe” therapy that first appeared in book form in 1950, is really a “hook” to pull people into the Church of Scientology, a powerful hydra-headed international organization that extracts money and services from its members through its control of their minds and pocketbooks. Scientology (the collective term for the teachings, techniques, and network of church corporations created by the late L. Ron Hubbard) sells “mental processing” that bears little resemblance to the book Dianetics. However, Scientology, for reasons my own book makes clear, uses Dianetics to lure “raw meat” (non-Scientologists) into its thought-control machine.

Lonesome Squirrel
by Steven Fishman
Total Freedom is quite accurately freedom from L. Ron Hubbard … so the parting advice which I wish to give you is to stay Clear … of Scientology.

Don’t bother looking up Mind Control in the Dianetics and Scientology Technical Dictionary. You won’t find it. In my case, Mind Control was a system of influence used to change my beliefs and identity. The Church of Scientology exploited my need for approval, and my desperation to be loved. I allowed myself to be controlled through fear — fear of being invalidated, dread of Ethics, and terror of losing my immortality through Irrevocable Ethics Orders and other assorted cockamamie bull____. I had the felony compounded through massive doses of hypnosis — both by my auditors and to a lesser degree by Dr. Geertz. Don’t think for a moment that reverie, boil off and anaten are not hypnosis, because they are. Even the TRs are a form of both hypnosis and Mind Control. The language of Scientology removed me further and further from my friends and family, which ultimately made me more susceptible to their system of influence, or thought reform.
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Religion Inc.: the Church of Scientology
by Stewart Lamont
A narrative account of life in Scientology

lComing to know the truth about Scientology was by no means the end of my problems. It has taken me ten years and hundreds of hours of counseling to come to terms with my experience in Scientology and to deal with the considerable anger I felt toward the man and the organization responsible for my exploitation and betrayal. I still have nightmares about Scientology. The healing process continues. But I am free. And having been once deceived by a great master of deception, I know I can never be deceived in the same way again. I will never again cede away the deed to my mind, not to anyone, no matter how convincing they may be. My freedom has been purchased at a tremendous cost, and neither my freedom nor my mind will ever be for sale again.

Scientology With(out) an End
by Tom Voltz

lThis book differentiates itself in vital areas from other published works of earlier members of the organization. Besides the very personal element of his path in the organization and the critical discussion of the ideology which had already begun during his membership and finally led to his departure, Tom Voltz succinctly relates previously unknown material. Tom Voltz gives us insight into the realm of the World Institute of Scientology Enterprises (WISE) and points out with unmistakable clarity that the Scientology system is anti-democratic. At the least, the segment about “ethics” makes clear the kind of humanly despicable ideology which is contained in Scientology. The picture which is drawn of L. Ron Hubbard is also new in this edition. His ideas of Scientology’s recruitment strategy are dismantled. (DISCLAIMER: You’ll have to brush up on your German to appreciate the full impact of Scientology With(out) an End.

The Road to Xenu
by Margery Wakefield
A narrative account of life in Scientology

lThe Autobiography of Margery Wakefield. Her Testimony is available online. Margery’s book is her account as a member of the Church Scientology. She had a long road ahead of her when she first started the so-called Church and twelve years later was cast out for reasons she still doesn’t know today. It took her years of counseling and new thought processes to escape the Churche’s hold on her mind. This book also includes the mind control and devices that Scientology uses to control its members. Cults are fascinating and frightening, and this walks the reader step-by-step through the conditions that lead people to them. Wakefield demonstrates how innocently the brainwashing starts, how gripping it is, and how hard it is to regain your freedom from insanity. (NOTE: an online search will reveal multiple links for a PDF download).

The Cheryl S Story
This is a true story from inside the “Church” of Scientology from 1977 to 1991.

The author has given Operation Clambake the honor of presenting it under her pseudonym “Cheryl S” (June 1999).

The Shrine Auditorium exploded time and again with the roar of 5,000 sets of hands clapping wildly. The clean-cut, uniformed young man on stage stood there with a smirk on his face, waiting for the sound to die down. Another set of graphs appeared on the giant television screen above his head, depicting yet another set of statistics that were remarkably up over the prior year. The man, a top executive of a controversial Los Angeles church, spoke glowingly about the most recent in a long line of statistics on parade, which precipitated yet another outburst of clapping. I had worked long enough as a staff member of this “church” to know that these many statistics being up this dramatically simply was not possible. And it was at that point that I realized that the members of the Church of Scientology were being victimized by their own church’s public relations techniques. And that realization marked the beginning of the end of nearly 12 years of abuse for me.
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The Hubbard Is Bare
by Jeff Jacobsen
It is most certainly clear that Hubbard was first and foremost a synthesizer of ideas, not a creator.

The reason I thought this was an exciting topic was Hubbard’s insistence that he came up with his ideas by himself and that they were as monumental a breakthrough from what came before as the discovery of fire to the cavemen. If it could be shown that dianetics was simply a synthesis of previous ideas, then Hubbard would be exposed as a huckster and fraud. And I don’t like hucksters and frauds. Generally speaking, it is my contention that Hubbard did no credible research of his own. Instead, he distilled ideas from books he had read, the few college courses he took, his own experiences, and his very fertile and disturbed mind, and came up with a mishmash of bizarre theories which he wrote down in scientific-sounding phrases and words. The ideas Hubbard borrowed were generally bizarre ideas to begin with, and his fertile, twisted mind altered and embellished them to produce an even worse hodgepodge.

The Mind Benders — Scientology
by Cyril Vosper
A fast, furious, funny, violent exposure of a major global cult

Very few people outside of Scientology know what goes on inside it and those inside it are the very last to speak frankly about their life. It is a strange world of insubstantialities, hopes and achievements, happiness, and misery, hero-worship and degradation, of intolerance and conceit. Scientology heralded a new form of mental and moral tyranny to a world already obsessed with a large number of enslavements. It could be the deadliest of all as it deals with the spirituality of the individual and when, in the past, religions have been intolerant, their programs have been bloody, sickeningly self-righteous, and degrading to human self-respect. The author’s experience of Scientology stretches over a period of 14 years from when it was a little-known and interesting form of psychotherapy, to September 1968 when he was declared an S.P. (Suppressive Person). This meant that he was considered “Fair Game,” the practice of the church to target its enemies and ruin their reputation.

The Total Freedom Trap
by Jon Atack
Scientology, Dianetics And L. Ron Hubbard

The work of L. Ron Hubbard has been surrounded by controversy since he first announced his “modern science of mental health” in 1950. His followers assert that he is not only the reincarnation of Buddha but also Maitreya, who according to Buddhist legend will lead the world to enlightenment. To Scientologists, L. Ron Hubbard is quite simply the wisest, the most compassionate, and the most perceptive human being ever to draw breath. The church has managed to inspire the fanatical devotion of tens of thousands of previously normal and intelligent people. Jon Atack gathers an enormous amount of documented evidence demonstrating that Hubbard was not what he claimed to be and that his “religious” technology does not confer the benefits claimed for it.

Understanding Scientology
by Margery Wakefield
The Demon Cult

It has taken me ten years to be able to write this book. I knew all along that I had to write it. If you explore a strange country, and you find it to be a very dangerous place, and you happen to be one of the few to return from that country alive, it becomes a moral necessity to warn others of the danger. As trite as it may sound, if I can prevent even one other person, especially a young person, from having to live through the nightmare of Scientology — then I will feel satisfied.

Villa Appel, in Cults of America, writes: Human beings need order. They need a framework that can account for and explain the experience. We are all vulnerable. And vulnerability is the exact opportunity exploited by all cults, especially Scientology. The antidote is information. Education. And exposure. It is the purpose of this book to shine a small light into the dark and secret world of Scientology.
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My Nine Lives in Scientology
by Monica Pignotti (1989)
My First Steps on the “Bridge to Total Freedom”

The following is an account of my life in Scientology, a group I was involved in from December 1970 to August of 1976 — about 5 years and 9 months. From 1973 to 1975 I lived aboard the Flagship Apollo (“Flag”), the home of L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Dianetics and Scientology. On Flag, I trained to be an auditor (a Scientology counselor). My life on Flag was a continual roller-coaster of ups and downs. One day I would receive a personal commendation from Hubbard and be held up as an example of what a Flag auditor should be and then, just months later, Hubbard would take away all my certificates and send me to the RPF (Scientology’s prison camp) for an auditing error I did not even commit. On Flag as auditors, we were under continuous pressure to be perfect, the standard of perfection being the whim of L. Ron Hubbard. (PDF download.)

Scientology: The Now Religion
by George Malko
Scientology is “an evil cloud, that settles on a person.”

Scientology: The Now Religion is a book on Scientology, written by George Malko. The book was the first full-length analysis of the history surrounding the founding of the Church of Scientology, and L. Ron Hubbard. The author conducted interviews with members and provides analysis about certain practices. The book was published in 1970 in Hardcover format by Delacorte Press, and then in a paperback edition in 1971, by Dell Publishing. The Church of Scientology fought to prevent the sale of the book. According to used book-sellers, people associated with Scientology have attempted to get copies of the book removed from online marketplaces claiming undefined trademark infringements. They have been instructed to remove their listings of this title by online selling sites after having received reports of “trademark infringement from the rights owner,” even though the copies in question have been in circulation for nearly 50 years.

Social Control in Scientology
by Bob Penny
“Something’s wrong here, Harriet… This is starting to look less and less like the Road to Total Freedom.”

The clues were there all along, so it is no surprise that the experience finally reduced itself to absurdity. The wonder is that I wasted 13 years of my life and more than $100,000 before learning to handle the false loyalties and other tricks in which I was enmeshed for so long. Clearly, something was going on that my basic “street education” had not prepared me to deal with. Rationalizations such as, “It’s the best thing we’ve got,” and “at least it’s moving in the right direction” (neither of which is true) helped perpetuate the stasis. Even afterward, it was hard to avoid rationalizations like “but I learned a lot,” or “the organization sucks but the tech is good” which were attempts to minimize and not really face the harm which had occurred and from which I had yet to recover. The habits of self-censorship, loaded language, avoidance of contrary data, and other thought-stopping mechanisms took a long time to go away if, indeed, they are gone even now. (PDF download).

The Invasion Begins
By James Renner – The Cleveland Free Times
Scientology’s Plan To Conquer Cleveland

The results of the personality test are not good. “You are irresponsible in your life and work,” he tells me. “You are cold-blooded and heartless.” He recommends auditing. The first session is free, the rest will be $250 each.

This is an auditing session, an important component of a religion called Scientology. The optometrist is the auditor. His name is Steve Sasala. He is skinny. And tall. His face is long and narrow. I can make out the shape of his skull. We sit across from each other, on opposite sides of a tiny desk inside a claustrophobic room at the back of some historic building in Parma Heights. The mayor used to live here. On the table are a clock, a wicker basket full of glass charms (hearts, leaves, spheres), and several sheets of blank white paper.

“Are you ready?” he asks. His voice is soothing.

Auditing, he explains, can be the quickest way to becoming Clear. We look at the chart again, the Bridge to Total Freedom. Ron touches the chart. “As you progress, you will find that you have developed certain abilities.” “What, like levitation?” I ask, sarcastically. “Reading minds,” he says. “Seeing into the future a little”  … “Sign me up!”
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Counterfeit Dreams
by Jefferson Hawkins
One Man’s Journey into and Out of the World of Scientology

Scientology presents a glittering public facade, with its high-profile celebrities, polished videos, sophisticated TV ads, and impressive buildings. It is a public image that Jefferson Hawkins helped to craft, in the 36 years he spent working for the Church of Scientology. Yet behind that facade is a hidden world of physical and mental abuse, harassment, sleep deprivation, labor camps, family disconnection, and flagrant human rights violations. Anyone who dares to reveal what really goes on behind Scientology’s dazzling curtain is mercilessly attacked and vilified by the Church. In Counterfeit Dreams, Hawkins traces his Scientology experience from his first eager fascination with the subject in the late 1960s to his departure, three decades later, discarded, vilified, and shunned as a “Suppressive Person.” Here is the detailed story of Scientology’s gradual descent into abuse, fanaticism, and violence.

Leaving Scientology
by Jefferson Hawlins
A Practical Guide to Escape and Recovery

Former Scientology executive Jefferson Hawkins penned one of the best first-person accounts of the Scientology experience in his book “Counterfeit Dreams.” He also provided a major service by writing a book aimed directly at other Scientologists who might have doubts about the organization. Written for Scientologists, ex-Scientologists, and their families, this book is a guide to leaving the Church of Scientology and recovering one’s life. The author, Jefferson Hawkins, was a Church of Scientology staff member for over 30 years and worked at the highest level of Scientology management. With intelligence and logic, he deconstructs the arguments, control mechanisms, and lies used by the Church of Scientology to control its members. This book is vital reading for anyone re-evaluating their involvement with the Church of Scientology.

Closing Minds
by Jefferson Hawkins
How Scientology’s “Ethics Technology” is Used to Control Their Members

How does Scientology control its members? How does it convince them to avoid any negative information about Scientology? How does it persuade them not to look at critical information on the internet, on TV or in the press? How does it convince them to avoid or entirely disconnect from people who are critical of Scientology – even their close friends, their family members, or their own parents or children? All while loftily talking about “improving communication” and “searching for truth”?

In Closing Minds, former Scientology insider Jefferson Hawkins explores a body of information that Scientology calls “ethics technology.” However, it has little to do with the subject of ethics as most people understand it. Instead, it forms a very sophisticated system of mental control. For anyone who has been a Scientologist, this book will reveal the subtle manipulations that you were subjected to. And for those who have never been in Scientology, it provides an informative peek behind the curtain and some understanding of how they command the unquestioning allegiance of their membership.

The Truth Rundown
by The staff of the Tampa Bay Times

In early 2009, the Tampa Bay Times reached out to Marty Rathbun, a former high-ranking member of the Church of Scientology who had left the church four years earlier, disaffected by the behavior and policies of the church’s leader, David Miscavige. Rathbun told Times reporters the story of his years in Scientology and what led to his leaving. That resulted in interviews with scores of other people in the Scientology world, including former staffers, disaffected parishioners, and current church members. Thus began the Times’ ongoing series, “Inside Scientology,” which launched with an installment called “The Truth Rundown,” published in June of 2009. That initial work — the focus of this book — shed unprecedented light on the internal workings of a secretive church that generates interest around the world. The Truth Rundown is also available online at the Tampa Bay Times website.
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Reclaiming My Decade Lost in Scientology
by Sands Hall
A Memoir

In the secluded canyons of 1980s Hollywood, Sands Hall, a young woman from a literary family, strives to forge her own way as an artist. But instead, Hall finds herself increasingly drawn toward the certainty that Scientology appears to offer. Her time in the Church includes the secretive illness and death of its founder, L. Ron Hubbard, and the ascension of David Miscavige. In this compelling memoir, Hall reveals what drew her into the religion—with its intrigues and unique contemporary vision—and how she came to confront its darker sides and finally escape. “Some of the most penetrating, illuminating prose about how an educated and skeptical person could get so deeply into, and then struggle to escape, what everyone around her warned was a dangerous cult … brilliant.” ~ Tony Ortega at The Underground Bunker.

Over the Edge
by Kay Rowe
A Pawn in the Scientology Money Machine

In a billion years I never thought I’d get involved in a cult, let alone sign a billion-year contract with one and stick with it for 37 years. The most oft questions I have been asked are “Why did you get involved in the first place?” and “What took you so long to finally get out?” I am confident that you will find the answers to both of these questions and many more in the pages within. This is not just my memoir, but a story that needs to be told of harsh abuse, medical neglect, and voracious greed all under the banner of a religion that claims to be saving this planet and the universe. From my early days getting involved in Scientology in Santa Barbara to joining the elite Sea Organization and slaving for pennies a day, there are no stones left unturned. I was a pawn in the Church of Scientology’s money-making machine and this is my story.

Commodore’s Messenger: Book I
by Janis Gillham Grady
A Child Adrift in the Scientology Sea Organization

At age 12 Janis was thrust into a role that no one, not even L. Ron Hubbard himself could have predicted the outcome, for within not too many years Janis and her fellow Commodore’s Messengers, as they were called, would be running the whole of International Scientology. Commodore’s Messenger begins by taking the reader into the life of the first family of Scientology in Australia, Yvonne and Peter Gillham, and their three children, Peter Jr., Terri and Janis. The story Janis has written comes from the earliest days at the epicenter of Scientology’s Sea Organization. As a messenger, Janis was with Hubbard a minimum of 6 hours a day and oftentimes much longer. She was privy to all his moods from sunny to thundering; as a messenger, she was intimately familiar with everything happening on board the ship as well as throughout the Scientology network.

Commodore’s Messenger Book II
by Janis Gillham Grady
Riding Out The Storms With L. Ron Hubbard

This book picks up where Book One ended with Janis, at age 14, along with her older brother Peter and sister Terri, all members of Scientology’s inner core, the Sea Organization. Aboard the Scientology ship Apollo, Janis worked as one of the first four personal messengers of Scientology leader, L. Ron Hubbard. She had a front-row seat as the ship sailed between Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, and she was privy to Hubbard’s attempts to ingratiate Scientology with the Moroccan government as it faced attempted coups and brutal crackdowns. As more and more ports denied entry to the Apollo, Hubbard crossed the Atlantic to the somewhat friendlier waters of the Caribbean, though still harassed by numerous agencies including the U.S. State Department, FBI, and Interpol among others. This harrowing journey takes you from October 1970 until October 1975, when L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology headquarters moved from his personal yacht to land in the United States. Commodore’s Messenger: Riding Out the Storms is the second volume of the trilogy that chronicles Janis Grady’s epic journey and that of Scientology’s mysterious Sea Organization.
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Ron The War Hero
by Chris Owen
The True Story of L Ron Hubbard’s Calamitous Military Career

To his followers, L. Ron Hubbard was a war hero and spiritual leader who served his country with distinction in World War II, suffering terrible injuries in the line of duty before miraculously healing himself with his revolutionary mental techniques – Dianetics and Scientology. This book examines the truth behind the legend and asks some awkward questions. What if there were no injuries? What if Hubbard was not, in fact, a war hero at all? What if his time in the military was marked not by bravery but by incompetence? By hubris rather than heroism? Drawing on previously unpublished documents and US government records, RON THE WAR HERO is a forensic and devastating portrait of the deceit at the heart of Scientology – a lie that has ruined so many lives and persists to this day.

The DEFECTOR
by Robert Dam
After 20 years in Scientology

A strong, personal story about the uncanny parallel world of Scientology. The DEFECTOR is written by Robert Dam, who himself was a member of the mothership of Scientology in EUROPE – right in the center of the Danish capital, Copenhagen – for 20 years until he defected in 2004. The story of his personal life with Scientology, as well as the story of the movement itself, is not for the fainthearted. It is hair-raising reading. Scientology’s paranoid worldview and the strict control of its members and critics make an alarming pivot point in the authors’ story as well as the story of the movement itself.

Fair Game
by Steve Cannane
The incredible untold story of Scientology in Australia

FAIR GAME: a policy by which enemies of Scientology can be, according to L. Ron Hubbard, ‘deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologist. May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed.’

From James Packer to Nicole Kidman to elite Rugby League players trying to improve their game, Scientology has recruited its share of famous Australians. Less known is that Australia was the first place to ban Scientology, or that Scientology spies helped expose the Chelmsford Deep Sleep Scandal. A number of Australians have held senior posts in the organization only to fall foul of the top brass and lose their families as a result.

Based on years of interviews and meticulous research, Walkley Award-winning journalist Steve Cannane tells for the first time the fascinating story of Australia’s vital involvement with this powerful, secretive, and punitive cult.

L. Ron Hubbard – Messiah or Madman
Bent Corydon and L. Ron Hubbard Jr. a.k.a. Ronald DeWolf
The Book That Survived Every Attempt to Suppress It’s Publication

L. Ron Hubbard wrote the 1950 bestseller Dianetics, the Modern Science of Mental Health. This inspired a layman-oriented mental health movement which, ultimately, developed into Scientology, the most profitable of the money-making new religions. Surrounded by adoring teenyboppers, uniformed in mini-skirts, bikini tops and high-heeled boots, Hubbard was a bigamist who masterminded Watergate-style break-ins. He was an opium addict who secretly regarded himself as the successor to Aleister Crowley, self-proclaimed “Beast 666.” These are but some of the facts about the man covered in this unusual biography. Are Hubbard’s followers the victims of a highly organized form of “spiritual crazy glue”? Not according to them. It can be very dangerous to attempt to expose HIS secrets. Most of those with first-hand knowledge of the man recently have been silenced. Fortunately, Bent Corydon conducted extensive interviews with many of them before they were pressured not to talk. This book survived many attempts to suppress its publication. Its pages are packed with information to prevent the pursuit of happiness from becoming a “weakness to be exploited.” This is the unauthorized biography of Lafayette Ronald Hubbard. Was he a messiah or was he a madman?
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My Billion Year Contract
Nancy Many
Memoir of a Former Scientologist

To a young, teenage girl, Scientology seemed to be just what the author was looking for: a way to improve herself and attain spiritual enlightenment. But it was only after she joined Scientology’s elite inner circle, the Sea Organization, and signed a Billion Year contract that she discovered the dark world of fanaticism and abuse at the center of Scientology’s vast empire. For more than two decades she worked at all levels of the organization, from serving as a personal aide to the founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, who placed her in charge of the religion’s worldwide expansion to becoming the head of Celebrity Center in Los Angeles, the organization that caters to Scientology’s celebrity members.

She personally experienced the Sea Organization’s Rehabilitation Project Force; a labor camp where erring members are “re-educated.” It is a shocking story of abuse, imprisonment, espionage, lies, mental torture, and suicide-vital reading for anyone who wants to know what goes on behind Scientology’s curtain.

Escaping Scientology: An Insider’s True Story
Karen Schless Pressley
My Journey with the Cult of Celebrity Spirituality, Greed & Power

With three decades of knowledge about Scientology beliefs and operations, and two decades of experience working for its Celebrity Centre International network and at the organization’s highest levels at its abusive international headquarters, Karen [Schless] Pressley’s personal story shows how this cult of greed and power hides its transgressions in plain sight under the banner of religious freedom and the social capital of its celebrity members. Before joining Scientology, Karen worked as a Hollywood fashion designer, and her husband, Peter Schless, was an award-winning composer of legendary songs including “On the Wings of Love” and the theme song to Rambo: First Blood Part II. Scientology’s celebrity spirituality lured them away from these successful careers to join Scientology’s extremist group, the Sea Organization. After Karen finally left the group, Peter disconnected from her, and eventually landed in Scientology’s infamous “hole” where he was subjected to abuse and humiliation. He has not composed another song for the outside world. Karen’s story reveals how and why this happened.

My Scientology Story
by Diana Dudas
The true story of an ex-Scientologist
One of the most commonly asked questions about Scientology is this: how can a person of sound mind believe any of it and fall into this very amateurish-looking trap Why does it seem so valuable that people sacrifice all their energy, time and money for this system, which seems suspicious even at first glance? And how can such a seemingly primitive scam still exist after almost 70 years? The initial question is answered by the shocking story of Diana Dudas. In addition to a heart-wrenching story, which is presented in gripping detail, the book also contains a detailed and precise description of the everyday life of a Scientologist.

The Complex
AUTHOR
An Insider Exposes the Covert World of the Church of Scientology

The Complex reveals the true story behind the religion that has ensnared a who’s who list of celebrities such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta, and convinced thousands of ordinary people to join up. Duignan describes how two years ago he staged a dramatic escape from the elite paramilitary group at the core of the Church, the Sea Organisation, and how he narrowly evaded pursuit by Scientologists from the Office of Special Affairs. He looks back on the 22 years he served in the Church’s secret army and describes the hours of sleep deprivation, brain-washing and intense auditing or religious counselling he endured, as he was moulded into a soldier of Scientology. He talks about the money-making-machine at the heart of the Church, the Scientology goal to Clear the Planet and Get Ethics In, the training programs, the Rehabilitation Project Force and the punishments meted out to anyone who transgresses, including children. We follow his journey through the Church and the painful investigation that leads to his eventual realisation that there is something very wrong at Scientology’s core.
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L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology Studies
by Donald A. Westbrook
Elements in New Religious Movements

This Element surveys the history and practice of Scientology studies over the past sixty years and offers resources for scholars and students moving forward. Section 1 reviews the history of academic research on the subject from 1958 to the present day. Section 2 draws on the author’s fieldwork with the Church of Scientology to illuminate how founder L. Ron Hubbard (1911–86) is viewed among contemporary members. Section 3 considers Hubbard’s influence and legacy in terms of the church sites and institutions that exist today in connection with the soteriological ‘Bridge to Total Freedom.’ Section 4 introduces English-language archival resources and their strengths. Section 5 proposes some open areas for Scientology researchers. Finally, glossaries of terms and appendices are included with major dates in Hubbard’s life and Scientology research and bibliographical information for major archival collections in North America.

Scientology
by Billy Crone
The Occult Teachings of L. Ron Hubbard
In Scientology & the Occult Teachings of L. Ron Hubbard, you will discover how so many people are being cheated from the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ alone. You will also encounter the reasons why so many people are being deceptively swayed to become members of Scientology and shockingly unable to get out. You will find that after examining Scientology & the Occult Teachings of L. Ron Hubbard, that celebrities are not only in great need of hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but they are in desperate need of being encouraged to flee from this cult as fast as they can before it’s too late. This book will give you the necessary tools needed to witness to a member of Scientology and open their eyes to the false teachings they have been under.
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