Explores a new paradigm for understanding social-psychological situations in which we live our lives. Along the way it illuminates the seductive appeal of cults and false messiahs, ways in which morality can be ennobling as well as deadly, the power of prayer, and the hidden side of personal careers.

Fred Emil Katz, a Holocaust survivor via the Kindertransport, worked in factories for six years, served in the US Army, and had an academic career as a sociologist, which saw him teach at universities in three countries and author seven books.