Example of an academic book review
This book review is included here with the permission of both
the author, Heather Kavan, senior lecturer in Business
Communication, and the editor of Stimulus, the journal in which
the book review was published.
Behind Closed Doors
Ngaire Thomas, privately published, 2 Alaska Court,
www.behind-closed-doors.org, 2004. Bibliographic information
294pp. ISBN 0646499106. NZ$34.
Behind Closed Doors is an inside look at what goes on behind
the doors of the Exclusive Brethren. The book answers the Introduction
question of what it is like to be a member of a select group who Statement of book’s
believe they are chosen to maintain the only pure path of purpose
Christianity. The author, Ngaire Thomas, was born into the Statement about the
church in the 1940s and left in the 1970s. author
It is probably just coincidence that this book was launched at
roughly the same time that sociologist Bryan Wilson died. Places the book in a
Wilson published the definitive study on the Exclusive Brethren context
in 1967, and was an expert witness in their court cases. Wilson’s
conclusions were based on information the religion provided
about itself; he dismissed ex-members’ accounts as suspect
atrocity stories and warned courts not to give credence to their Statement about book’s
testimony.i Today, after outbreaks of violence in other religions genre and potential
have repeatedly demonstrated that ex-members accounts are significance
often more accurate than academic ones, ii we may be more
welcoming of their insights.
As one such ex-member account, Ngaire Thomas’ book is
compelling. Her style is non-judgemental; she describes her Overall evaluation
experiences while acknowledging the Exclusive Brethren’s right
to follow a religious path in which they find meaning.
The book begins with Ngaire’s childhood. She is different from
the other children with her long dresses and strict upbringing.
Summary of the book’s
She loves school because it is the only place that she can be her
beginning – giving details
real self. Worldly things are forbidden: there are no radios
which provide the context
(because Satan rules the airwaves) or non-Brethren books. Life
of the author’s conflict
revolves around the Bible, and when Ngaire brings friends home
from school her mother preaches to them about the end times in
Revelation. Other Christians are also deemed suspect, and Ngaire
recalls getting the strap when caught secretly attending Bible in
School classes.
A Salem-like undercurrent of holy surveillance pervades the
scenes, and this undercurrent surfaces in Chapter 10, when
Ngaire is pressured into falsely admitting that she has
“committed fornication” with her cousin (she has no idea what
This book review is included here with the permission of both
the author, Heather Kavan, senior lecturer in Business
Communication, and the editor of Stimulus, the journal in which
the book review was published.
Behind Closed Doors
Ngaire Thomas, privately published, 2 Alaska Court,
www.behind-closed-doors.org, 2004. Bibliographic information
294pp. ISBN 0646499106. NZ$34.
Behind Closed Doors is an inside look at what goes on behind
the doors of the Exclusive Brethren. The book answers the Introduction
question of what it is like to be a member of a select group who Statement of book’s
believe they are chosen to maintain the only pure path of purpose
Christianity. The author, Ngaire Thomas, was born into the Statement about the
church in the 1940s and left in the 1970s. author
It is probably just coincidence that this book was launched at
roughly the same time that sociologist Bryan Wilson died. Places the book in a
Wilson published the definitive study on the Exclusive Brethren context
in 1967, and was an expert witness in their court cases. Wilson’s
conclusions were based on information the religion provided
about itself; he dismissed ex-members’ accounts as suspect
atrocity stories and warned courts not to give credence to their Statement about book’s
testimony.i Today, after outbreaks of violence in other religions genre and potential
have repeatedly demonstrated that ex-members accounts are significance
often more accurate than academic ones, ii we may be more
welcoming of their insights.
As one such ex-member account, Ngaire Thomas’ book is
compelling. Her style is non-judgemental; she describes her Overall evaluation
experiences while acknowledging the Exclusive Brethren’s right
to follow a religious path in which they find meaning.
The book begins with Ngaire’s childhood. She is different from
the other children with her long dresses and strict upbringing.
Summary of the book’s
She loves school because it is the only place that she can be her
beginning – giving details
real self. Worldly things are forbidden: there are no radios
which provide the context
(because Satan rules the airwaves) or non-Brethren books. Life
of the author’s conflict
revolves around the Bible, and when Ngaire brings friends home
from school her mother preaches to them about the end times in
Revelation. Other Christians are also deemed suspect, and Ngaire
recalls getting the strap when caught secretly attending Bible in
School classes.
A Salem-like undercurrent of holy surveillance pervades the
scenes, and this undercurrent surfaces in Chapter 10, when
Ngaire is pressured into falsely admitting that she has
“committed fornication” with her cousin (she has no idea what
