"Thomas Merton was truly a renaissance man and the wide ranging scholarship on Merton's life and thought published in The Merton Annual witnesses eloquently to this. It is truly as multifaceted as Thomas Merton himself." 

- Dr. Paul M Pearson. Director and Archivist, Thomas Merton Center

"These scholarly essays reveal Merton's developing global concerns. They also reveal his definite disappointment with cultures which are destructive of the particulars of any place, or person... It is also especially appropriate that the unpublished Merton manuscript included here should be an excerpt from his Peace in the Post-Christian Era. Truly, Merton's love for God made it imperative that he think as widely as possible, indeed globally. 

- Victor A. Kramer, A Found Editor of The Merton Annual

"Marvelous! The essay included in this volume that explains the Sanskrit terms Madhyamika and Dharmakaya-used by Merton to describe his "enlightenment" just days before his death which "confirms and consoles the pilgrim and the reader with the fulfillment of Merton's intense longing..." 

- Gray Henry, Publisher of the Fons Vitae Merton Series (Merton and Sufism; Merton and Hesychasm; Merton and Judaism; and Merton and Buddhism)

"Thomas Merton, monk and author, has entered into legend. The Merton Annual, with its blend of scholarship, witness, interpretation, and review, embodies the need to engage with Merton in his singularity, not as a legend but as a seeker and prophet of our time with whom the grand, precise dialogue continues." 

- Roger Lipsey, author of The Spiritual in Twentieth-Century Art (Dover Books, reissued 2004)

The Merton Annual began in 1998 as a vehicle for publishing extended monographs related to Thomas Merton, including his contributions to letters; his monastic, ecumenical, and social concerns; and his importance as a writer, artist, and monk. The scholarly essays presented in this latest volume reveal Merton's developing global concerns and his disappointment with the destructive forces of certain cultures. An excerpt from his previously unpublished manuscript "Peace and the Post Christian Era" is also included.

Victor Kramer is the founding editor of The Merton Annual, and a coeditor of The Complete Journal of Thomas Merton, Volume Four. He has been engaged in Merton-related studies for 30 years. He lives in Decatur, Georgia.

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