Koresh, born Vernon Wayne Howell, made religious claims strikingly similar to those of Cyrus Teed, an eclectic physician and alchemist who founded a commune in Estero, Florida in 1894.
<p>Historian Paul Renfro reviews Kevin Cook's new book, which seeks to explain how the 1993 siege of the Branch Davidian cult's Waco compound became a totem for the right while also decrying the aggressive law enforcement tactics that escalated the situation toward mass death. </p>