In this book, Harris Lenowitz explores the extraordinary history of Jewish messianic movements. Looking in detail at all of the Jewish messiahs about whom anything is known, he introduces each figure through extensive excerpts of the original texts that tell their stories. The messiahs in these pages range from the inspiring to the tragic and bizarre.

In each case the original sources, many of them autobiographies, present a vivid glimpse into the time and the social context in which these imposing and enigmatic individuals arose, and suggest the qualities that attracted believers to their cause.