INVITATION TO THE CLASSICS:
a guide to the books you've always wanted to read
By Louise Cowan and Os Guinness (editors). Baker Books, Grand Rapids. 384 pages
ISBN 0 8010 1156 6
The main part of this book devotes four illustrated pages each to essays discussing the content and significance of a range of acknowledged literary masterpieces.
The aim is to encourage Christians to engage with the ideas and questions the classics raise, on their own terms, but also in relation to faith. At the end of each essay, there is a short bibliography and a set of discussion questions. There are introductory pieces from the editors outlining the purpose of the book, the importance of the classics, and distinguishing 'the classics' from 'the canon'. Then there are nearly 50 contributors writing the 70 or so essays.