In the grand tradition of the scholar-adventurer, acclaimedauthor Richard Cohen takes us around the world to illuminate ourrelationship with the star that gives us life. Whether floating ina skiff on the Ganges as the Sun descends behind the funeral pyresof Varanasi, interviewing psychologists in the Norwegian Arcticabout the effects of darkness, or watching tomato seedlings insouthern Spain being hair-brushed (the better to catch the Sun’srays), Cohen tirelessly pursues his quarry. Drawing on more than seven years of research, he reports fromlocations in eighteen different countries, including theNovolazarevskaya science station in Antarctica (the coldest placeon Earth); the Arizona desert (the sunniest); the Pope’sobservatory-cum-fortress outside Rome (possible the leastaccessible); and the crest of Mount Fuji, where—entirely alone—hewelcomes the sunrise on the longest day of the year. As he soon discovers, the Sun is present everywhere—in mythology,language, religion, sciences, art, literature

Scientology, created in 1954 by a prolific sci-fi writer namedL. Ron Hubbard, claims to be the world's fastest growing religion,with millions of members around the world and huge financialholdings. Its celebrity believers keep its profile high, and itsteams of "volunteer ministers" offer aid at disaster sites such asHaiti and the World Trade Center. But Scientology is also a notablyclosed faith, harassing journalists and others through litigationand intimidation, even infiltrating the highest levels of thegovernment to further its goals. Its attacks on psychiatry and itsrequirement that believers pay into the tens and even hundreds ofthousands of dollars for salvation have drawn scrutiny andskepticism. And ex-members use the Internet to share stories ofharassment and abuse. Now Janet Reitman offers the first fulljournalistic history of the Church of Scientology, in an evenhandedaccount that at last establishes the astonishing truth about thecontroversial religion. She traces Scientology's development fro