Brother Benjamin: A History of the Israelite House of David

by Clare E. Adkin

What is the "House of David," who was King Ben, and how did this man come to establish a religious commune in Benton Harbor,Michigan? The book traces the history of this religious sect from 1903 to 1990. In BROTHER BENJAMIN, Clare E. Adkin, Jr. explores the answers to these questions from the inside. The foundation of his effort lies in the 200 plus interviews he conducted in an effort to look at the Israelites (as members refer to themselves) from every possible perspective-- including their famous long-haired baseball teams and scandals within the sect. Combine these interviews with the meticulous scouring of court records and reviewing of endless news articles, and the result is an extraordinarily detailed, lucid account of a rather well known although poorly understood, religious sect.

374 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1990