Life in the Family: An oral history of the Children of God, by James D. Chancellor.
I came across an interviews with Chancellor about this book in Cornerstone Magazine (http://www.cornerstonemag.com/pages/show_page.asp?633). I subsequently found a copy of Chapter One on the Amazon.com website.
There's another article in Cornerstone by Chancellor called "The Family & The Truth" where he discusses his ethical dilemmas in doing objective research on TF. See: http://www.cornerstonemag.com/pages/show_page.asp?641 I found this to be the most interesting thing written by Chancellor, although I ordered his book and plan to read it.
Chancellor's book is viewed favorably by TF, and you will find it cited on TF's official website. From everything I've actually read in the book and by Chancellor, however, he does not whitewash TF. He is criticized by anti-cultists because he doesn't demonize Family leadership or take a strong evaluative stand about negative aspects of Family history. Still, he does document the negatives and shows how people who have stayed in the group view those negatives (e.g., child abuse, flirty fishing, group misrepresentation, Berg's prophetic leadership).
Chancellor is a religious scholar by profession and an evangelical Christian. I found his scholarly approach--primarily one of documenting group's religious history from the perspective of the group's members--throught-provoking. It's easy to forget that people who participate in TF's construction of reality are (for the most part) just flawed human beings striving to know and serve God.
I don't imagine this perspective absolves Family members of their crimes against a generation of children, but it does remind me that there but for the grace of God go I. It also reminds me that from the perspective of Family members (and that of many people outside TF), there is no doubt a certain gratitude that they did not made the kinds of choices that would have brought them to where I am today.
So who is right and who is wrong? When it comes to understanding the meaning of my life, I am not sure that this kind of question will to lead me to a satisfying, irrefutable answer. Fortunately, my Higher Power gives me a way to have peace of mind even when I don't know the answer to every mystery that life poses.