This is a comprehensive and extensive account of The Desert Movement, in which a surprising number of early Christians sought, through solitude, to enhance their experience of God by living ascetic lives in remote places. Beginning in Lower Egypt the movement spread to Upper Egypt, Judea, Gaza and Sinai. Taking their inspiration from the words of Jesus, and inspired by an intense inner desire for God, these anchorites’ reason for engaging in such a way of life was to enable the love of God to grow and flourish within them. Although the desert movement had largely faded by the 7th century it has had a lasting influence on Christian spirituality. The author takes the reader on a journey through those places where the movement developed and describes in detail the kind of life these men and women lived, their inner struggles and physical deprivations. He examines some of the more significant figures for whom there is written evidence and covers the whole subject in a thoroughly accessible way. The book has an extensive bibliography and a useful index and is to be recommended as a definitive account of a significant period of Christian history.