ABSTRACT
This book grew out of a bibliographic project and the accumulation of comparative documentary data on new religious movements (NRMs) and the responses to them in Britain and Germany. My aim was to gain an overview of the existing material and to find out who was involved in the debate. I also wanted to know whether there were major strands in the arguments around which the debate revolved and whether there were any differences between the two countries, differences in the chronological unfolding of the debate, in the emphasis placed on arguments and aspects, and in the approaches which the different parties involved had taken. Explanations to account for such differences also needed to be explored.
