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Bare-Faced Messiah: The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard Kindle Edition

by Russell Miller (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 1,437 ratings
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HOW DID AN OBSCURE SCIENCE FICTION WRITER BECOME ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST NOTORIOUS RELIGIOUS LEADERS?

'An unsurpassably scathing study of money-mad, power-mad megalomania. I recommend the book unreservedly' Spectator

‘A brilliant exposé of Scientology’s conman king’ John Sweeney

'Jaw-dropping… Thoroughly researched and simply amazing' Kirkus Reviews

***

Bare-Faced Messiah tells the extraordinary story of L. Ron Hubbard, a penniless science-fiction writer who founded the Church of Scientology, became a millionaire prophet and convinced his adoring followers that he alone could save the world.

According to his ‘official’ biography, Hubbard was an explorer, engineer, scientist, war hero and philosopher. But in the words of a Californian judge, he was schizophrenic, paranoid and a pathological liar. What is not in dispute is that Hubbard was one of the most bizarre characters of the twentieth century.

Bare-Faced Messiah exposes the myths surrounding the fascinating and mysterious founder of the Church of Scientology – a man of hypnotic charm and limitless imagination – and provides the definitive account of how the notorious organisation was created.

***

'One of the most bizarre tales of the 20th century, or any other century for that matter' The Irish Press

‘Unfolds like an epic and ultimately tragic film’ Tony Ortega

'Russell Miller tells the whole preposterous saga of this frightful mixture of Baron Munchhausen and Madame Blavatsky with a wry and dogged clarity' Sunday Telegraph

***

If you like true stories which are as darkly gripping and jaw-droppingly entertaining as the very best fiction, you'll love Bare-Faced Messiah. Start reading it now!

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  1. Print length
    398 pages
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  4. Publication date
    August 31, 2018
  5. File size
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Editorial Reviews

Review

'A brilliant exposé of Scientology's conman king' John Sweeney 'Unfolds like an epic and ultimately tragic film' Tony Ortega 'Russell Miller did the groundbreaking work on Hubbard and the Church of Scientology that every future biographer relies upon' Lawrence Wright

About the Author

Russell Miller is a prize-winning journalist and the author of several books, including Bare-Faced Messiah: The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard, The House of Getty, and VE Day: The People's Story.

Jonathan Cowley, an Earphones Award-winning narrator, is a British actor hailing from Eastbourne, East Sussex, but he currently calls Los Angeles home. He has narrated many audiobooks and can also be heard on both sides of the Atlantic narrating film trailers and documentaries. He is also an active television and film actor who has appeared in Grey's Anatomy, Veep, and WestWorld.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07H182V4G
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Silvertail Books (August 31, 2018)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 31, 2018
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3994 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 398 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 1,437 ratings

About the author

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Russell Miller

Russell Miller

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Russell Miller is an award-winning journalist, scriptwriter and author based in the United Kingdom. The movie "Lorenzo's Oil", starring Nick Nolte and Susan Sarandon, was based on a feature he wrote for the Sunday Times Magazine. His first book, "Bunny, The Real Story of Playboy", was voted the best non-fiction book of the year and his biography of L.Ron Hubbard, exposing the lies promoted by the Church of Scientology about its founder, was the subject of ferocious litigation around the world and was eventually withdrawn from publication in the United States. Russell is currently working on a biography of Field Marshal Slim, the hero of the Burma campaign in the Second World War.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
1,437 global ratings
This is a shoddy print-on-demand edition.
2 Stars
This is a shoddy print-on-demand edition.
After reading large portions of Bare-Faced Messiah online, I ordered the paperback edition pictured here. I was disappointed to find that it contained NONE of the pictures in the online version. NO pictures at all. It also had no index. And the print was annoyingly small. On the back page, it said "Made on Mar 23, 2022," obviously print-on-demand. I returned the book for a refund. I ordered a gently used 1987 hardcover from another source which makes up all the shortcomings of this version. It has 8 pages of photos, an index, and much more readable print. And it was $15 cheaper! I recommend anyone with an interest in L. Ron Hubbard or scientology read this excellent book, but NOT this shoddy print-on-demand edition! Get a good copy of the book.
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Top reviews from the United States

NC Mom-Professor-Dog Boarder
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating book!
Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2023
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This is an extremely well-written book about the extraordinary and outlandish life and lies of LRH. I found it almost impossible to put down. Excellent read and I wish everyone would read it so that people knew the truth about CoS. As a taxpayer, I strongly resent the tax-free status this cult enjoys.
4 people found this helpful
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Michael G.
4.0 out of 5 stars Much stranger than fiction.
Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2017
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Edition being reviewed: Silvertail Books (UK) 2014, hardcover.
Warning: The size of the typeface in this edition is quite small. Some readers, particularly older ones, may find it challenging to see clearly.

Bare-Faced Messiah is the biography of a man. A very dishonest man named L. Ron Hubbard. It starts with Hubbard's birth in 1911 and pretty
much gives a blow by blow description of his life ending with his death some 74 years later. His signature accomplishment, founding and nurturing The Church of Scientology is examined in shocking detail starting just after Bare-Faced Messiah's halfway point.
America has known many charismatic charlatans over the years but Hubbard was a case completely unique unto himself. The book alludes to the presence of severe mental illness.....paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar illness are both put forth as possibilities, even though no definitive diagnosis was ever made. What separates Hubbard from others of his ilk is that his behavior indicates there is a chance he may have actually come to believe the undeniably preposterous Scientology cosmology he himself had cynically invented out of whole cloth.
Unlike most of the recent spate of books exposing the sinister nature of Scientology, Russell Miller's Bare-Faced Messiah is at its essence the biography of one highly unusual and dangerous individual. It does not go into great detail about how unwitting members of The Church of Scientology are devastated financially and in many cases experience their families being torn apart.
This is a fascinating biography, well documented and highly detailed. It was put together at great personal risk to the author, who, for that reason alone, deserves praise and recognition.
40 people found this helpful
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rom
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent biography of a con artist
Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2014
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I was involved in Scientology decades ago. One of my first inklings that something was wrong was when I was exposed to his "official" biography. It was absurd. This work does an excellent job of giving you all the historical facts and exposing Hubbard for the mentally disturbed, charismatic charlatan that he was. Miller relies heavily on the work of a couple of other people, one of whom was assigned the job of going through a huge trove of documents that had been in storage. When he discovered that virtually everything about Hubbard was a lie he was expelled from the "church" and harassed for decades both personally and through the court system. It is not a modern history of the cult since it ends with his death and doesn't deal with the atrocities continued by it's "pope" David Miscavige. In case it doesn't show, I don't much care for Scientology.

I found it a riveting read but, in fairness, that could be in part due to my intense interest in the subject matter. Hubbard was not a God. He was a despicable human being, which is something of an insult to the human race.
16 people found this helpful
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Stuffologist
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and thoroughly researched bio.
Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2021
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If you are like me, fascinated by the success of Scientology and wanted to grasp just how this dangerous, divisive cult gained such power--read this book. You will get a thorough look at LRH and his history plus the history of the "church" he launched. This book is well written, well researched, and a fantastic read.
2 people found this helpful
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FredZarguna
3.0 out of 5 stars Decent
Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2014
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A very interesting account of the life of the founder of the cult of Scientology, which suffers from a few defects:

1) While I don't doubt the overall veracity of the account, it's not as well-sourced as I would have hoped. There are lots of named sources for the material, but there are also a lot of anonymous ones. Given how dangerous Scientology has made itself to its detractors, this probably isn't surprising.

2) As is often the case in works of this type, the author projects thoughts into the minds of his subjects that, while reasonable enough, cannot possibly be verified. As Evander Holyfield's manager said when asked if he thought Mike Tyson _intended_ to bite his fighter's ear: "You can never really know what is in the mind of another person." Good advice for biographers who aren't writing in the Michael Shaara style.

3) The author's understanding of American law and American history is not sound. He should not have ventured opinions in these areas if he wasn't willing to do research into them, which makes one question the soundness of some of his other research. This distraction needn't have happened. For example, the author indulges in the trope that America of the 1950's was an hysterical lunatic asylum of anti-communism. Yet within the pages of his own study he subsequently demolishes his own contention, since none of the many people that LRH falsely accused of being communists were ever threatened -- nor as far as we can even tell given so much as a second look -- by the FBI, and indeed, the FBI came to the (almost certainly correct) conclusion that Hubbard's accusations originated in the mind of a paranoid head-case.

4) Despite the claims by some reviewers, I don't really think was a very even-handed treatment. If the author had dispensed with his snarky remarks about Hubbard and his cult and simply let the facts speak for themselves, the evidence of history presented is enough to indict and convict LRH and his following. His editorializing, while admittedly infrequent, is frankly juvenile and unprofessional, and detracts from the quality of the book overall. It need not have done.

All that said: it's well written, presents the facts and is an easy biographical read in crisp style with plenty of detail. With these cautionary notes, a worthwhile and informative purchase.
37 people found this helpful
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DAT134
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book for Inquiring Minds
Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2024
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This book really is eye opens your eyes to cult grifters and liars.
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Top reviews from other countries

Patty McNamara
5.0 out of 5 stars Eye opener!
Reviewed in Canada on October 27, 2023
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I've developed an interest in the cult of Scientology. To understand the current version of this cult you need some history. Absolutely astounding how this science fiction author, chronic liar and criminal could end up with so many followers.
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Raymond Pembroke
5.0 out of 5 stars Exposing the pros and mostly cons of L. Ron Hubbard
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 14, 2023
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Even though a prolific writer of science fiction, Dianetics and Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard's so called genius included lies, deceit, cover ups, corruption, human trafficking, fair game tactics and other anti social traits. Russel Miller the writer of this book 'The Bare Faced Messiah' carried out a tremendous amount of research and interviews to arrive at these truths. The last approx. 2/3rds of this book are so revealing, intriguing, surprising and shocking at times in respect of Hubbard's many macabre type antics that it is hard to put the book down. I recommend this revealing read to glean the truths of the cult leader Hubbard. By the way any Scientologist will, whilst reading this book, realise how they have been told lies, cover ups, part truths and so on re much of Hubbard's life!
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Runner
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting insight into the evolution of a cult leader
Reviewed in Germany on December 1, 2022
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You always wonder what needs to happen in people's life to become cult leaders. Though the book does not answer that question, it does a very good job of illustrating the path L. Ron Hubbard took. I know it won't happen, but everyone thinking about joining Scientology should read this book first.
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Liam
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating
Reviewed in Australia on February 7, 2024
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If this is a subject that interests you, than this is a must.
Fantastic story and information.
Well written and easy to digest even given its size.
Thoroughly enjoyable
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Michael
5.0 out of 5 stars All you need to know is here!
Reviewed in France on November 25, 2015
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Everything you need to know to know about L.R Hubbard and Scientology is in this book. However, the number of misprints in the E-version is quite surprising and must even be confusing for readers whose first language is not English.
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