This edition, one of the Hodder Classics series, sits with other extraordinary works of spirituality like The Cloud of Unknowing, The Imitation of Christ, Brother Lawrence’s The Practice of the Presence of God and the Pilgrim’s Progress. The sheer diversity, both of historical period and temperament, expressed by these works warns us that they are not to be treated as ‘technical manuals’ insisting on our religious experience taking a particular form or path. Indeed, they are witnesses to the wealth of human spiritual experience. Modern readers will experience moments of deep recognition in what Saint John writes, particularly in the way we often learn best from periods of difficulty, searching, even suffering. This is a salutary correction to any ‘spirituality’ that appears to look only for easy emotional rewards.