Publisher Description
"As I walk'd through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a certain place, where was a Denn; And I laid me down in that place to sleep: And as I slept I dreamed a Dream."
So begins one of the best-loved and most widely read books in English literature. An acknowledged classic of the heroic Puritan tradition, and a founding text in the development of the English novel, The Pilgrim's Progress has inspired readers for over three centuries. The story of Christian, whose pilgrimage takes him through the Slough of Despond, Vanity Fair, and the Delectable Mountains, is full of danger and adventure. Together with his trusty companions, Faithful and Hopeful, he encounters many enemies before finally arriving at the Celestial City.
John Bunyan's own experience of religious persecution informs his story, but its qualities of psychological realism, and the beauty and simplicity of his prose, give the book universal appeal.
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About John Bunyan
John Bunyan (1628–1688) started out as an itinerant worker and a soldier. When he began to have religious experiences, he joined a Christian fellowship and soon began preaching. His discussions with the followers of George Fox inspired his first book, Some Gospel Truths Opened, published in 1656. In 1660, he was arrested while preaching. During twelve years of imprisonment in the county jail, he wrote several works, including Profitable Meditations, Praying in the Spirit, The Holy City, and Grace Abounding. He was released after the Declaration of Indulgence of 1672, under which he became a licensed preacher and pastor of the church to which he belonged; but in 1673 the Declaration was canceled, and Bunyan was sent back to prison for six months. During this time he wrote his most famous work, the epic Christian allegory The Pilgrim’s Progress. His defined religious outlook is balanced in his writing by an almost modern realism and psychological insight.
About James Langton
James Langton, an Earphones Award–winning narrator, trained as an actor at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and later as a musician at the Guildhall School in London. He has worked in radio, film, and television, also appearing in theater in England and on Broadway. He is also a professional musician who led the internationally renowned Pasadena Roof Orchestra from 1996 to 2002.