Rowan Williams goes back to the fourth century desert fathers and mothers for inspiration and insight. In exploring their stories and spirituality, the Archbishop discovers that their spirituality resonates strongly with aspects of the modern spiritual search.

A bestselling title which draws inspiration from the desert fathers and mothers, now in paperback First published in hardback in November 2003, and having since sold over 11,000 copies in the UK alone, this highly acclaimed book from Rowan Williams (the first published since his enthronement as the Archbishop of Canterbury) is now available in an accessible paperback edition. In this inspirational and fascinating book, the Archbishop looks at the stories of the desert fathers and mothers - a group of Christian monks and nuns living in the Egyptian desert in the 3rd to 5th centuries - concentrating on the wisdom, insights and spirituality found in their writings.

In reflecting on the legacy of these extraordinary people and looking at how they lived their lives intimately with God, Rowan Williams contemplates how their spirituality resonates with and can inspire today's spiritual search to reach a unity with God and our fellow neighbours. Williams looks at various topics where the spiritual search of the desert fathers and mothers touches our own, including:

• living in relationship with others;
• discovering the truth about ourselves;
• reassessing our priorities; silence and the importance of language;
• living in a fearless community;
• living within our limitations;
• life and death; and staying and leaving;