Features a diverse group of writers, each of whom provides considered, personal and sometimes controversial responses to individual books of the Bible, be it Bono on Psalms, AS Byatt on the Song of Solomon, Louis de Bernieres on Job or the Dalai Lama on the Epistles.

A unique anthology that collects the introductions to the bestselling Pocket Canons into one volume

"Readers who have now lost their slim Canongate 'Canons', or never saw them should now cry hallelujah . . . the prefaces have returned, with extra items, as a 33-essay volume . . . spend your Easter with Canongate's extremely good book." Independent

"Like the best conversation: intellectually rigorous and controversial, yet always alert to the profound and enduring significance of these ancient stories for today's rather more fractured, dislocated humanity." Metro

"It's worth the cover price just to see such an extraordinary collection of names gathered on the same contents page. Nowhere else will you find Nick Cave rubbing shoulders with the Dalai Lama, or Bono and Joanna
Trollope, Mordecai Richler, Peter Ackroyd, Will Self, Ruth Rendell and many others . . . Overwhelmingly, these introductions kindle a desire to look at the original texts with fresh eyes." Observer

"Relish the way [it] demonstrate[s] the Bible's supreme status as a work of myth and poetry and its inadequacies as a factual discourse." Times Educational Supplement

"Offers a series of thought-provoking essays, rigorously argued in a multitude of voices . . . Invigorating." Daily Mail

"A highly personalised and insightful look at the influence the Bible has had on the childhood and morality of a beautifully eloquent set of writers." Buzz Magazine