BOOK REVIEW 111 well as individuals are striving, and with some measure of success, to create a nuclear-free world, but as the danger continues to persist it is a noteworthy message and a primary agenda for political action. The presentation of the problem may not be original but it is no doubt too overwhelming a problem to be ignored by the modern world. It is an eloquent reminder to the persistence of the nuclear danger. The second cause of grave concern to humanity is environmental pollution and the destruction of the eco-system, which has reached alarming proportions (p. 56). In attempting to conquer the natural world, mankind has upset the rhythm of nature. The ecological imbalances and pollution of air, water and food threaten to destroy mankind. The most obvious case is that of accumulation of carbon-dioxide in the atmosphere which produces a greenhouse effect and causes the atmospheric temperature to rise. The countless minute floating particles of dust and other matter block out the light of the sun. The dumping of oil into the seas inhibits evaporation of seawater and creates climatic alterations (p. 43). The problems have become especially acute due to high-rise construction and rapid urbanisation. Large cities all over the world are plagued with problems of bad roads, inadequate water supplies, poor sewerage, housing shortages, improper garbage disposal, scanty greenery, shutting out of light and breeze, traffic congestion, high land prices, environmental pollution, dehumanisation and so on. Our present evils are human-made and ought to be human-cured as well (p. 55). Humankind must clean the pollution, and refrain from producing any more if it is to survive the impending ecological disaster. Inaction in such circumstances is tantamount to suicide; it is virtually self-destruction. It, however, should not lead us to the anachronistic^belief (as is common to both the authors, pp. 45, 60) that religion is the only possible solution to the predicament facing humankind. The authors ignore the threat posed by the great social divide between the rich and the poor and the tremendous economic disparities in the concentration of wealth on a world scale. There can be no hope of everlasting peace in a world dominated economically by a few multinational companies. In their political pronouncements both the authors express an outright anti-leftist bias. The Soviet society is condemned for its totalitarian intolerance and imposition of an alien ideology (pp. 70-76). Of course, both the authors seek to conveniently conceal this bias under the cover of eclecticism. The United States is also criticised for its involvement in the Vietnamese and Korean wars and also for racial discrimination at home (pp. 161-66) but not for its overall imperialist policies on a world scale and as the biggest merchant of death having the largest exporting armaments industry. But what many modern readers would consider as ridiculous is the fantastic notion common to both authors that communism is a religious variant of the Judiac species (pp. 179-80). Ikeda condemns both capitalism and socialism. Capitalism has sacrificed the happiness of