by Lyn Millner, 2015, University of Florida Press, Gainesville, FL

This book is a history of the Koreshan movement and its settlement in Estero, Florida.  The movement was founded by a very charismatic individual, Cyrus Teed, who taught that followers who believed in him and his beliefs would somehow achieve immortality.

An added interest in the book for me is the close proximity of the Koreshan State Park to our current residence in Florida.

Ms. Milner, who is a professor at nearby Florida Gulf Coast University, treats her subject with respect and she has done an incredible amount of research on her subject.  Her writing is good, and my only negative comment is that sometimes the amount of detail she provides can get somewhat tedious.

I particularly liked how she brought the subject up to date at the end of the book with a detailed account of the current situation, both for the state park as well as the College of Life Foundation, which manages the left-over assets of the Koreshans.  I also liked her afterword in which she described some of her own thoughts and emotions as she researched and wrote the book.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in cults and how they come into being as well as anyone who has an interest in Southwest Florida history.