By Shoghi Effendi.
Bahá'í Publishing Committee, Wilmette, Ill., $2.50.
This is the first complete
and official history of the Bahá'í religion written from the inside and
from the top. Shoghi Effendi, great-grandson of Bahá'u'lláh and grandson
of Abdu'l- Baha, is "Guardian of the Faith" by his grandfather's
appointment, so his book is comparable to a history of the papacy written
by the pope. Much of it describes a noble and sincere effort for spiritual
uplift. But there have been internal dissensions and opposition from
without. The author recites with satisfaction the horrible disasters that
have overtaken many who challenged the authority of his house: two "died
prematurely," one died of cancer and two others from heart attacks, one
"fell a prey to a fatal and loathsome disease," and another "died in
obscurity and poverty," and a "greedy and conceited" dissenter who
criticized the leader "met his death soon after he had uttered these
denunciations." But the movement is a going concern which has gained no
little influence in its single century of history.