Hailed as "the Russian Newman", the great Eastern theologian, poet and mystic Vladimir Solovyov has been unjustly neglected in the West. More recently however, leading Catholic figures such as John Paul II (in his encyclical Fides et Ratio) and Cardinal Giacomo Biffi (at a recent international conference on Solovyov held in Bologna) have called for a revival of interest in the work of this prophetic figure. Born into the Russian Orthodox Church, Solovyov was a life-long advocate for the authority of the pope, and was received into the Catholic Church toward the end of his life.

In his preface to this anthology, Cardinal Biffi writes: "Vladimir Solovyov understood the twentieth century, but the twentieth century has not understood him". This wide-ranging anthology brings together in one volume a representative selection of Solovyov's theological, historical and mystical writings in the hope of introducing this profound Christian thinker to a wider public. It will make a useful contribution to the ecumenical dialogue between East and West called for by the present Holy Father in his encyclical letter Ut Unum Sint.