No artist creates his works in a vacuum. Beyond the conscious influence of books read, artwork seen, minds probed (through conversation or exchange of letters), writers are in no small part products of everything that surrounds them--people, places, things, events. MILTON'S CENTURY is designed to place one particular genius--John Milton, arguably the finest poet the English nation (perhaps even Western civilization) has produced--in the context of his time. And what a remarkable time it was--a century of revolutions, of discoveries, of literary and artistic efflorescence, of religious turmoil and political turbulence, of plagues and fires and ultimate rebuilding...and of the first adumbrations of the Modern Age. MILTON'S CENTURY becomes vital and alive for twenty-first-century readers through the vast network of connections and interconnections that Professor Collings articulates. [Borgo Literary Guides, No. 15.]

Most of us think there are only two possible answers to the question: Do you have a soul? Either we have a soul, which will live beyond death, or there is no such thing as a soul, and when we die, nothing of us remains. But what if neither of those answers is correct? What if, instead, we are not born with a soul, but we have the possibility of growing one? Our potential for growing a soul was recognized by early gnostic Christians who practiced esoteric Christianity, which dates back to and originated in ancient pre-sand Egypt. It is a sacred science of being, a long hidden, esoteric teaching that G. I. Gurdjieff brought to the West early in the last century and is called the Fourth Way.How do we grow a soul? Gurdjieff tells us, The whole secret is that one cannot work for a future life without working for this one. We must learn how to be present to ourselves in each moment, to integrate body, senses, mind. The techniques and practices Gurdjieff brought in the Fourth Way can show us how. Is there life after death? Thats the primordial human question. Yes, you have a soul. How do you know? Isnt it just societal belief? If you have no soulokay, heres how to live after dying. (William Patrick Patterson, author of Georgi Ivanovitch Gurdjieff: The Man, The Teaching, His Mission) For those who have felt the wish or recognized the need to grow in themselves something higher, the Levitans introduce Gurdjieffs authentic way of self-transformation to do so. They also explore other ways stemming from the same source, throughout centuries and millennia up to the present time, showing how Gurdjieff presented methods that completed what had been mostly lost, forgotten, or left out. (Mary Ellen Korman, author of A Womans Work with Gurdjieff, Ramana Maharshi, Krishnamurti, Anandamayi Ma & Pak Subuh) Essential reading conveying with unique clarity and directness a distillation of the deep spiritual ideas contained in Gurdjieffs Fourth Way teaching. Faced with the question of soul, Ron and Claire Levitan lead us to the deep esoteric meaning of that word and the responsibility it carries in giving significance to our lives, the Earth and beyond. Gurdjieffs language of neologisms, often inaccessible, is presented in a straightforward manner, explaining the direct path to higher consciousness and conscience. If youve ever wondered what soul is or what is meant by growing a soulthis is the book youve been waiting for. (Teresa Adams, instructor, Haida yoga, the Online Fourth Way School)