In John Bunyan's hands, a pious tract is transformed into a work of imaginative
literature, "The Pilgrim's Progress", whose influence - both on work that follow
ed and on the English consciousness as a whole - has been immeasurable. This "Pe
nguin Classics" edition is edited with an introduction and notes by Roger Pooley
. John Bunyan began "The Pilgrim's Progress" while he was in prison for conducti
ng unauthorised Baptist religious services outside of the Church of England.
In this classic allegory, devout everyman Christian abandons his family and the
City of Destruction and sets off to find salvation. His path is straight but not
easy, and he is beset by trials, including the terrible violence of the destruc
tive Apollyon and the Giant Despair, as he pursues his pilgrimage through the Sl
ough of Despond, the Delectable Mountains and Vanity Fair towards the Celestial
City. In the second part of the narrative his wife, Christiana, is escorted by G
reat-Heart through the same difficult terrain.
