To See the Promised Land

This is a psychohistorical study of Martin Luther King, making use of James Fowler's faith development theory and Erik Erikson's conception of the Homo Religiosus. Downing argues that previous studies have placed an inordinate emphasis on the intellectual development of King's thought and have failed to give sufficient attention to his early childhood experiences. Downing reveals the "real" rather than the "mythic" King, and attempts to show a clear distinction between the early and the later King, between the King calling for reconciliation and the King calling into question the whole structure of American society. ISBN 0-86554-207-4: $27.50.