The Terrestrial Gospel is an anthology of passages selected from various books by Kazantzakis, centering on Nature and the workers of the soil. A powerful and poetic work that raises environmental awareness and calls us to compassionate action, the book contains new translations from the Greek originals to English, some original poems by Maskaleris, a Preface by Jean-Michel Cousteau, and an illuminating essay by ecologist, author, and film-maker, Michael Tobias. Love supports survival… Nikos Kazantzakis’ love of Nature inspired him to write beautiful hymns to Her and to the human life rooted in the soil — as the selections for this Anthology movingly demonstrate. Having grown up on the fascinating island of Crete — close to trees, animals and wild peasants — he absorbed and retained the terrestrial life in his soul, and made it bloom in brilliant descriptions throughout all of his works. These poetic tributes are not mere “décor” but a vital source of ever regenerative human life, biological growth, individual spirit and ecological community. It is a poetic vision that is at once communal, and global, from one of the 20th century’s greatest writers.