'Dan Cohn-Sherbok has written an important book on the topic of the Messiah. It can serve as a reliable introduction for university students or anyone else interested in this phenomenon. We owe Cohn-Sherbok a great deal for writing a fascinating book which clearly argues a controversial point. But he does it in a gentle, persuasive way, false messiahs have done a lot of harm; true messianic figures like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi have done a great deal of good. The issue the author raises is fundamental to human survival and worthy of discussion and debate.' William Klassen, Utopian Studies