Thomas Merton entered the Cistercian monastery of Gethsemani in Kentucky at the age of twenty-six, partly as the result of a dramatic conversion, partly to expiate guilt for having fathered an illegitimate child. He first achieved celebrity six years later when he published his autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, an account of medieval monastic existence in twentieth America which was an instant bestseller.

In the following years he came near to breakdown at times as a result of conflict with his Abbot and with himself. But as Master of Novices, and later as a hermit, he hammered out a deeper and very different understanding of his faith. He felt that instead of renouncing ‘the world’, monks should study its conflicts and pray for their resolution. He was active as a writer in the Civil Rights Movement and the peace Movement, and he also developed ecological concerns.

In 1968 he set off on a journey to Asia and Europe on which he met the Dalai Lama and many people of other faiths. He died of accidental electrocution in Bangkok.

Monica Furlong interviewed Merton’s Abbot, a number of his monastic colleagues and students at Gethsemani and many of his friends in order to write this, the first full-length biography of Merton. It has now been updated to include new information that has recently come to light and been updated to include new information that has recently come to light and completely re-set in British spelling.

With compassion and insight Monica Furlong examines Merton’s spiritual and emotional struggles, conflicts with authority, courageous social stands and self doubts. What emerges is a dramatic, richly detailed portrait of a flesh-and-blood man committed to a search for meaning and an authentic form of Christianity.