There is a large literature on cults, but it is sharply divided along ideological grounds with those who are opposed to cults (often, but not always, on religious grounds) obviously finding fault with the ideologies of cults as well as their practices and recruiting devices. Those on the other side tend to see cults as social movements within the long tradition of religious movements. Likewise the literature on "brainwashing" is divided into those who tend to see brainwashing as a devious and almost paranormal phenomenon and those (including most psychologists) who treat brainwashing as consistent with other techniques of attitude change which can be used for good or bad purposes. There are many books on specific cults, most of which I have not read and am therefore reluctant to recommend. Be forewarned that these specific books are often sensationalized, inaccurate, and unsympathetic to any aspects of the cults. Writers who can see no positive aspects to cult ideology are left with no explanation for why people join cults other than some sort of mysterious brainwashing. In fact, most cults attract members in part because they have appealing messages.
Atak, Jon. A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed. Carol Publishing, 1990. Perhaps the most complete and critical account of scientology written by an ex-member.
Bainbridge, William. Satan's Power: A Deviant Psychotherapy Cult. University of California Press, 1978. A scholarly account of a particular cult and its ups and downs over several years.
Bromley, David G., & Shupe, Anson D. Jr. Strange Gods: The Great American Cult Scare. Beacon Press, 1981. The authors struggle with the basic issues of what constitutes a cult and whether they are a menace to society. They conclude that some extreme cults are dangerous but remind readers that the First Amendment to the Constitution doesn't just protect mainstream Christians and Jews.
Bugliosi, Victor & Gentry, C. Helter Skelter (*). Bantam Books, 1975. Written by the prosecutor in the case, this remains the best book on the Manson cult.
Chidester, David. Salvation and Suicide: An Interpretation of Jim Jones, The People's Temple, and Jonestown. Indiana University Press, 1988. An attempt to understand the People's Temple in terms of standard religious categories. While the account is ultimately not sympathetic to Jones, it does give a good account of his relatively sophisticated theology as well as the religious basis of suicide.
Davis, Deborah Berg. The Children of God: The Inside Story. Zondervan, 1984. A highly critical account written by a daughter of cult founder, David (Moses) Berg.
Enroth, Ronald. Youth, Brainwashing, and the Extremist Cults. Zondervan, 1977. Written by a sociologist who is also an evangelical Christian, this book is critical of cults primarily on the basis that their beliefs are false. Has some interesting case studies of cult members.
Galanter, Marc. Cults: Faith, Healing and Coercion. (*) Oxford University Press, 1989. A reasonable attempt at discussing the psychology of cults. This is a good introduction. Galanter is a practicing psychiatrist and so provides insightful discussions of parallels between cult conversions on the one hand and psychotherapy and the psychology of self-help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous on the other.
Hall, John. Gone from the Promised Land: Jonestown in American Cultural History. Transaction Books, 1987. A balanced treatment that some would argue is too sympathetic to Jones. Perhaps the best introduction.
Harrison, Shirley. Cults: The Battle for God. Christopher Helm, 1990. A fairly neutral description of various cults and fringe religions.
Kanter, Rosabeth. Commitment and Community: Communes and Utopias in Sociological Perspective. (*) Harvard University Press, 1972. An important, by now standard, treatment of 19th century utopias and 1960s style communes in terms of commitment mechanisms. Kanter shows that one important predictor of success of these movements was their ability to enforce regulation and a fair amount of uniformity in behavior.
Lifton, Robert J. Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of "Brainwashing" in China (*). Norton, 1961. The classic study of brainwashing in Communist China of Chinese citizens and American POWs in the Korean conflict. Lifton stresses how ineffective such coercive techniques generally are.
Lofland, John. Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization, and Maintenance of Faith. (*). Prentice-Hall, 1966. A classic study of the Moonies.
Mithers, Carol Lynn. Therapy Gone Mad: The True Story of Hundreds of Patients and a Generation Betrayed. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1994. A history of the Institute for Feeling Therapy which began as a legitimate, if unorthodox, form of therapy and ended as a cult and commune in the Los Angeles Area.
Pavlos, Andrew J. The Cult Experience. Greenwood Press, 1982. A balanced treatment of cults that emphasizes the social psychology of conversion and beliefs.
Pratkanis, Anthony & Aronson, Elliot. Age of Propaganda: The Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion. (*), Freeman, 1991. A readable but respectable treatment of the whole topic of attitude change and social influence.
Reiterman, Tim, & Jacobs, John. Raven: The Untold Story of the Rev. Jim Jones and His People. Dutton, 1982. Written by a journalist who was present during the last days of Jonestown, this offers considerable detail on Jones and his life and is highly critical of him and his movement.
Scarboro, Allen, Campbell, Nancy, & Srave, Shirley. Living Witchcraft: A Contemporary American Coven. Praeger, 1994. A moderately interesting description of a coven in Atlanta. The authors treat the coven as a religious group, and as described they are harmless enough.
Schein, E., Schneier, I., & Barker, C.H. Coercive Persuasion: A Sociopsychological Analysis of the ABrainwashing@ of American Civilian Prisoners by the Chinese Communists. Norton, 1961. A useful early account of brainwashing.
Singer, Margaret Thaler. Cults in Our Midst. Jossy-Bass, 1995. Although a bit alarmist in places, this is perhaps the best general introduction to the psychology of cult involvement.
Tabor, James & Gallagher, Eugene. Why Waco: Cults and the Battle for Religious Freedom in America. University of California Press, 1995. It is not hard to find books that are critical of Koresh and the Branch Dravidians. This book is critical of certain aspects of the cult, but defends it as a legitimate religious movement.
Talmon, Y. Family and Community in the Kibbutz (*). Harvard University Press, 1972. A representative of the literature on the psychology of the Israeli kibbutzim. While we don't normally think of the kibbutz as a cult (and most are not based directly on the religious ideas of Judaism), they provide instructive examples of alternatives to traditional family life and the basis of social and political community, such alternatives generally being a goal of most cults.
Wright, Stuart (Ed.). Armageddon in Waco. University of Chicago Press, 1995. Essays by scholars of religion and social movements. Most are sympathetic to Koresh or at least hold open the possibility that the accounts of his group are biased.
York, Michael. The Emerging Network: A Sociology of the New Age and Neo-Pagan Movements. Rowman & Littlefield, Brief descriptions of various movements and cults with a focus on leaders. Some data on the characteristics of cult members are also presented. While the author attempts to find common threads, the analysis is not especially successful.