Many books have been written about Mount Athos, that monastic peninsula which juts out of the coastline of Northern Greece. But most of these books give a picture of this revered place as a tourist attraction. This volume—THE MONK OF MOUNT ATHOS: STARETZ SILOUAN, 1866–1938, by Archimandrite Sophrony—does something quite different—it provides an intimate view of of the life of a Russian monk on Mount Athos, the only one of its kind available in English. It is the work of Father Sophrony, the Abbot of the Orthodox Monastery at Tolleshunt Knights in Essex, England, who was, himself, for many years a monk on Mount Athos and a disciple of the Staretz (a term which simply means “elder” or “old man”). This book was first published in 1958 under the title THE UNDISTORTED IMAGE. This edition is an expanded version of the first part of that book which contains the author’s account of the life of Staretz Silouan and his interpretation of Silouan’s teachings and message. You will also find this life expounded against the background of the theological and spiritual teachings of the Orthodox Church. Father Sophrony seeks to show the depths which lie behind the simplicity of the Staretz’s words—the profound message of a truly holy man. Translated from the Russian.