In 1987, weeks before the book's publication, Scientology engaged Penguin Books Ltd and Russell Miller in a legal dispute, claiming that certain parts of Miller's work consisted of copyright infringement. Another private investigator, Jarl Grieve Einar Cynewulf, told Sunday Times journalists that he had been offered 'large sums of money' to find a link between Miller and the CIA. Senior executives at publishers Michael Joseph, and at the Sunday Times, which serialised the book, received threatening phone calls and also a visit from private investigator Eugene Ingram, who worked for the Church. Attempts were made to frame him for the murder of a London private detective, the murder of American singer Dean Reed in East Berlin and a fire in an aircraft factory.

His friends and business associates also received visits from scientologists and private detectives. While researching the book in the USA, Miller was spied on. These include references to interviews conducted specially, to court or government documents and to Hubbard's own writings. It stretches from Hubbard's birth to death, and covers his success as a science fiction writer, his military career, the rise of Dianetics and Scientology, his journeys at sea with his followers, and his period on the run from the law in California. The book takes a critical perspective, discussing falsehoods allegedly perpetuated by Hubbard about himself. Ron Hubbard by journalist Russell Miller.

Ron Hubbard' ( London, Michael Joseph books, 1987, ISBN 0-7181-2764-1) is a posthumous biography of Scientology founder L. 'Bare-faced Messiah: The True Story of L.

Russell miller bare faced messiah