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By Robert Payne. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1969. 703 pp.
GANDHI'S TRUTH. ON THE ORIGINS OF MILITANT NONVIOLENCE. By Erik H. Erikson. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., Inc., 1969. 474 pp.
Gandhi continues to fascinate psychoanalysts. His political genius and accomplishments, his impact on world history and the consciousness of mankind have been unrivaled in their originality and power. Moreover, the violence occurring throughout the world today, with the certainty of the annihilation of man if the problems underlying man's violence are not solved, compels us to study and restudy the life of the man who forged the theory and practice of nonviolent political action. The psychoanalyst has a special interest in Gandhi's intrapsychic conflicts and his overt psychopathology as they relate to his creative accomplishments—and to his blind spots and failures.
It is therefore a pleasure to recommend the two books under review as valuable additions to our knowledge of the subject. They are complementary volumes, and there is no indication that either of the authors was aware of the other's practically simultaneous work. I have listed Payne's first because it is more comprehensive and objective. Reading it first will facilitate the reading and evaluation of Erikson's psychohistorical study.
Payne's biography is beautifully written, a model of selection and incisiveness. The events leading to Gandhi's assassination unfold with the spellbinding force of tragedy, and this is accomplished without novelistic trickery or dramatic flourish. Payne's most original contribution is the factual clarification of the conspiracy and