The Francis Book: 800 Years with the Saint from Assisi

The Francis Book: 800 Years With the Saint From Assisi, compiled and edited by Roy M. Gasnick, O.F.M. Published by Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., New York, 1980. Currently out of print.A review by Michael and Magdalena KeithIf you think you've read everything there was to learn about St. Francis of Assisi, this book, a compilation of writers, will prove you wrong. Written to celebrate the 800th birthday of this man whose life set in motion a presence of so much universal appeal that transcends poverty, suffering and death, St Francis' importance to our time is made manifest by the list of contributors.Guides on the journey include novelists: Nikos Kazantzakis, Albert Camus; essayists: G.K. Chesterton, Oscar Wilde; poets: William Wordsworth, Vahel Lindsay; songwriters: Donovan, Arlo Guthrie; historians: Arnold Toynbee, Sir Kenneth Clark; theologians: Thomas Merton; multiple journalists and Francis' own contemporaries.Its universal appeal includes articles such as: "Saint Francis and Sri Ramakrishna"; "Muhammad and Saint Francis"; "Jesus, Francis and Buddha: the Challenge of Tomorrow"; and "Saint Francis, Buddha, and Confucius."There are over 100 photographs and illustrations that include: a painting created by Cimabue no more than two years after Francis' death; woodcuts; a photgraph of a 14th century stained-glass window found in Konigsfeld, Switzerland; and a photograph of the only public statue of St. Francis in london by sculpturor A. Fleischmann, found in the friary opposite Westminster Cathedral.Although this book is currently out of print, it is a worthy addition to any library.