Leigh Fermor chronicles his several sojourns to Europe's oldest and most celebrated monasteries in this short meditation. He stays at the Abbey of Wandrille, a great repository of art and learning; at Solesmes, famous for its revival of Gregorian Chant; and at the deeply ascetic Trappist monastery of La Grande Trappe, where monks take a vow of silence. Finally, he pays a visit to the abandoned rock monasteries of Cappadocia, cells and chapels hewn from the stony spires of a moonlike landscape, a place where he seeks to some trace of the life of the earliest Christian anchorites. Throughout this short, entrancing book Leigh Fermor thinks hard about the meaning of silence and solitude for modern life, especially for those who, like himself, are not a member of any church. Leigh Fermor writes,"In the seclusion of a cell–an existence whose quietness is only varied by the silent meals, the solemnity of ritual, and long solitary walks in the woods–the troubled waters of the mind grow still and clear, and much that is hidden away and all that clouds it floats to the surface and can be skimmed away; and after a time one reaches a state of peace that is unthought of in the ordinary world."  (WLD121, $12.95)