Waco Rising

David Koresh, the FBI, and the Birth of America's Modern Militias

By: Kevin Cook

Narrated by: Gary Tiedemann

In 1993, David Koresh and a band of heavily armed evangelical Christians took on the might of the US government. A two-month siege of their compound in Waco, Texas, ended in a firefight that killed seventy-six, including twenty-five children. America is still picking up the pieces, and we still haven't heard the full story.

Kevin Cook finally provides the full story of what happened at Waco. He gives listeners a taste of Koresh's deadly charisma and takes us behind the scenes at the Branch Davidians' compound, where "the new Christ" turned his followers into servants and sired seventeen children by a dozen "wives." In vivid accounts packed with human drama, Cook harnesses never-reported material to reconstruct the FBI's fifty-one-day siege of the Waco compound in minute-to-minute detail. He sheds new light on the Clinton administration's approval of a lethal governmental assault in a new, definitive account of the firefight that ended so many lives and triggered the rise of today's militia movement. Waco drew the battle lines for American extremists—in Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh's words, "Waco started this war." With help from sources as diverse as Branch Davidian survivors and the FBI's lead negotiator during the siege, Cook draws a straight line from Waco's ashes to the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol and insurrections yet to come.

©2023 Kevin Cook (P)2023 Tantor

Quite a Revelation!

This book really explained what happened at Waco, what lead up to it and most revealing: how it continues to affect our nation in terms of the growth of militia groups and dissension in our politics. As someone who lives inside the Beltway, this book was a revelation!

Wild History!

“These people (Davidians) all had something missing in their lives that were exploited by him (David Koresh).


It’s alarming how gullible people are when their “master” holds their inner desires.
People may use this book in effort to abolish the necessity or even the existence of God. But if you actually read the Bible with a open and prayerful heart, you’ll notice that these people described in the book are conducting blasphemous rituals using the Bible by manipulating its contexts in hopes to perceive themselves and their desires as the highest regard… self-idolization. For example, in chapter 4 or 5, there is a man that claims that “God told him that he is the next messiah” which contradicts Matthew 24:23-25 where Jesus states “At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you ahead of time.”

There is another example in chapter 5 “Planet Koresh” where there was a man that said that “God told him in a dream that God will give him Madonna…” yea… not biblical that’s lustful delusion…

This book is a seamless library of historical stories about people that blatantly exploit the Bible. But I must admit most people can be targets of sheeplike brainwashing if the other party holds their desires, perhaps this book is a good way to protect ourselves to see the chaos before it comes… since history likes to repeat itself….

Another Great One By Cook!

This was a great listen! It was a story I thought I remembered. Cook filled in all of the gaps in my memory. He is so good at making the listener feel like they are living though the story as it’s happening. The narrator was a perfect match for the book.

Very, very good.

I was looking for no frills information on what happened at Waco, and this book is exactly that. Informative but engaging, and more even-handed than I'd have ever expected one source to be. I feel far more informed, and will be giving it another listen to pick up details I may have missed the first go 'round.

The narration strikes the exact right chord - informative but not bland.

Well done.

Thought Provoking

Outstanding research and information gathering, very thorough and articulate in describing the multiple points of view involved in this gripping story. It’s a classic human tragedy and narrated in an entertaining manner. I had read a review of Cook’s book in the New Yorker magazine and this did not disappoint. It clarifies lines of thought and behavior triggered by the flaming debacle. Memorable and remarkable.