You are invited to attend the launch of

Mount Athos: Microcosm of the Christian East

edited by Graham Speake and Kallistos Ware

at Bridgewater House, 14 Cleveland Row, London SW1A 1DG

on Thursday 16 February 2012 at 6.00 pm

on the occasion of the visit of Abbot Ephraim of Vatopedi Monastery

Mount Athos is the spiritual heart of the Orthodox world. From its beginnings in the ninth century it attracted monks from all corners of the Byzantine empire and beyond to experience its seclusion, its sanctity, and its great natural beauty. The first monastery, founded in 963, was an international institution from the start; and by the end of the twelfth century separate monasteries had been founded not only for Greeks but also for Georgians, Amalfitans, Russians, Serbs, and Bulgarians. Nationality, however, has rarely counted for much on Athos, and though the Romanians have never secured a monastery for themselves, today they form, after the Greeks, the largest ethnic group. This book tells the story of how these many traditions came to be represented on the Mountain and how their communities have fared over the centuries. Most of the papers were originally delivered at a conference convened by the Friends of Mount Athos at Madingley Hall, Cambridge, in 2009. As far as possible, the authors were chosen to write about the traditions that they themselves represent.

Contributors: Dame Averil Cameron, the Revd Professor Constantin Coman, Dr Nicholas Fennell, Dr Tamara Grdzelidze, HE Dr Vladeta Jankovic, Professor Kyrill Pavlikianov, Dr Marcus Plested, Dr Graham Speake, Metropolitan Kallistos Ware.

Published by Peter Lang AG (Bern), 216pp., paperback, ISBN 978-3-03911-995-0.

The cover price of this book is £30.00 but thanks to a bulk purchase by the Friends of Mount Athos we are able to offer it to members at £21.00/€28/$34 (plus postage and packing).

If you are unable to attend the launch but would like to order copies of the book, please use the form below.

Please send me .......... copies of Mount Athos: Microcosm of the Christian East

                  £4  for delivery to a UK address;

                  £10 / €13 for delivery to Europe;

                  £14 / $23 for delivery to the rest of the world.

Name ....................................................  e-mail address .................................................

Address to which the book(s) should be sent ..................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................

I enclose a cheque for £ .......... / € .......... / $ .......... payable to the Friends of Mount Athos.

Please send this form together with your cheque to: Simon Jennings, Friends of Mount Athos, c/o Rawlinson & Hunter, Eighth Floor, 6 New Street Square, London EC4A 3AW.