The first of these two volumes is mainly devoted to a painstaking study and description of the spiritual world and physical environment of the great German reformer, Martin Luther. The second volume is a psychological description of Martin Luther and an analysis of the interrelation between his personality and the social structure, as it was expressed in Luther's teachings and beliefs. Neither a historian nor a theorist, but a psychiatrist of the Kraepelinian School, who apologetically uses a certain reading knowledge of psychoanalysis, Reiter fights a heroic fight against the specialists on several fronts. He succeeds in giving a vivid and instructive description of Luther's times and, to a lesser degree, of Luther's life and personality. The enormous amount of historical material which is collected in the pages of this book might be helpful to someone who wishes to write a truly understanding study of Luther