The Pilgrim's Progress

'This fire is the work of grace that is wrought in the heart'

In John Bunyan's classic allegory, Christian abandons his family and the City of Destruction and sets off for salvation. His path is straight but not easy, and he is beset by trials, including the terrible violence of the destructive Apollyon and the Giant Despair, as he pursues his pilgrimage through the Slough of Despond, the Delectable Mountains and Vanity-Fair towards the Celestial City. In the second part of the narrative his wife, Christiana, is escorted by Great-heart through the same difficult terrain. Written with the urgency of persecuted faith and a fiery imagination, The Pilgrim's Progress is a spiritual as well as a literary classic.

In his introduction, Roger Pooley discusses Bunyan's life and theology, as well as the text's biblical and historial backdrop, its success and critial history. This edition also includes accompanying seventeenth-century illustrations, a chronology, suggested further reading, notes and an index.

About The Author

John Bunyan was born in 1628. In 1644 he was caught up in the Civil War and drafted into the Parliamentary army. Four years later he entered a period of intense spiritual struggle (chronicled in Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners), after which he emerged a new man. He joined a Nonconformist church and began to preach. Bunyan spent many years in prison because of his faith and during this time began writing The Pilgrim's Progress. The first part was published in 1678 and the second part, together with the whole work, was published in 1684. Bunyan died in 1688.