Ostow gives us a lucid, scholarly presentation of clinical material in which apocalyptic experiences are prominent, and of classical apocalyptic literature. The experience is thus examined from the perspective of both individual and group psychology. In both cases, there is an effort to restore balance to profound disequilibrium, generally characterized by feelings of rage and powerlessness. In individuals, the dynamic consists of "the fantasy that the world is or will be destroyed, and that thereafter a deserving remnant will be rescued." Relief is experienced in the fantasy that one's enemies will be destroyed and that the sufferer "will be reborn in a mystical reunion with mother." Ostow deftly presents the political implications involving