The Book of the Shepherd: The Story of One Simple Prayer, and How It Changed the World

Stone the builder who erects a house that falls on its occupants. Sever the hands of the criminal who pilfers livestock or grain or another's garment. Whip the child who defies an elder. For such is the law and the law must be obeyed.

For generations, these ironclad rules had governed the people. Nobody ques-tioned whether it was right to humiliate a child or execute a murderer. An eye for an eye was the way of the world.

But was there another way?

When an antiquarian book is discovered in the disheveled study of an old Vermont farm-house, the house's new owner has the volume translated. The result is The Book of the Shepherd, a timeless story full of life lessons for us all.

Set in a mythical time, in an unnamed land, The Book of the Shepherd tells the tale of a shepherd, Joshua, who is troubled by the harsh code of an eye for an eye that governs his world. Called by a dream, the shepherd sets off on a journey to find the new way.

Accompanied by Elizabeth, a...