Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion (Religion) by Janet Reitman

Paperback:  Scientology is known for its celebrity believers and its team of "volunteer ministers" at disaster sites such as the World Trade Center;  its notably aggressive response to criticism or its attacks on psychiatry;  its requirement that believers pay as much as hundreds of thousands of dollars to reach the highest levels of salvation.

But for all its notoriety, Scientology has remained America's least understood new religion, even as it has been one of its most successful.

Now Janet Reitman tells its riveting full story in the first objective modern history of Scientology, at last revealing the astonishing truth about life within the controversial religion for its members and ex-members.

The book covers the history of Scientology and discusses prominent Scientologists such as L Ron Hubbard (creator of Scientology) and Tom Cruise.  It details the church's business model under the leadership of David Miscavige.  It also describes Scientology controversies, such as the death of Lisa McPherson.  The book devotes some attention to Scientology's broader teachings including 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.

After its release, the book was criticized by the Church of Scientology.  A spokesperson for the church alleged that the book was poorly researched and contained numerous inaccuracies.  Reitman disputed their claims, maintaining that she did extensive research.

According to a review published on The Village Voice, Reitman's book is a "stunning overview of everything" and calls the author a "thorough, brave journalist."

Based on five years of research - which began in 2006 when she published an article in Rolling Stone about Scientology - confidential documents, and extensive interviews with current and former Scientologists, this is an utterly compelling work of nonfiction and the defining work on an elusive faith.

Inside Scientology:  The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion (2011) has been nominated as a New York Times Notable Book, an Amazon.com Best Nonfiction Book of the Year and a San Francisco Chronicle Top Ten Book of the Year.

About the author:  Janet Reitman is a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, and the author of Inside Scientology, which was based on her National Magazine Award-nominated story of the same name published in Rolling Stone in March, 2006.  She is the first American journalist to publish a major book on Scientology, and the only writer to have charted its full history.

Reitman also covered the war in Iraq for Rolling Stone and has reported on a wide range of other topics, including the failure of US and international recovery efforts in post-earthquake Haiti;  the Duke lacrosse scandal;  the death of American aid worker Marla Ruzicka in Baghdad;  and the national childhood obesity crisis.  She has also reported extensively in Africa, profiling Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe, and covering conflicts in Sudan and Sierra Leone.

In addition to Rolling Stone, Reitman's work has appeared in GQ, Men's Journal, the Los Angeles Times Sunday Magazine, and Salon, among other publications.  She and journalist L Christopher Smith live in Brooklyn, New York, with their French sheepdog, Bode.