A Poisonous Cocktail?: Aum Shinrikyo's Path to Violence - Softcover

"Well written, full of subtle details, well documented. . . . An important contribution."

In the light of the sarin attacks made by Aum Shinrikyo on Tokyo, this book describes the movement's history, examines the various conflicts it has been involved in, and discusses the content of Asahara's sermons and prophecies, all in an attempt to discover why the movement turned from meditation and asceticism to violence. Suggesting that the Aum case is not unique, the book shows how it displays similarities with other cases of violence and conflict amongst religious and political movements in Japan and elsewhere.