In an only too topical anthology , Ruth Finnegan, cultural historian, classicist, and anthropologist, has gathered together a fantastic collection of heart-rending expressions of both despair and inspiration. It spans the world, the centuries, the religions. Of interest to readers of all backgrounds and especially useful for senior school readers, no one concerned with the issues of the modern world as we live in it today will want to miss this fabulous collection: incredibly moving, shocking, mind-opening. For who, of all kinds and backgrounds, of all centuries and lands, is not interested in peace?