This collection of C. H. Spurgeon's travel letters offer a rare insight into a different side of the famed preacher. Of the many telling phrases C. H. Spurgeon gave the world, one speaks to the way he, and his contemporaries, greatly valued letters, or what he called "gifts of the pen." He lived in a golden age of letter-writing, and helped to make it so. The best letters, he knew, are written with caring reflection, love of the written word, wit, and a vivid sense of place.

His travel letters model these gifts. His love of nature, history, culture, and art live--and breathe--in these pages. Rest and recreation, on holiday, when he could follow these interests, were meaningful, renewing gifts from God. He cherished them, and needed them. They lend a special, one-of-a-kind voice to this book. With a painter's gifts, set amid the countryside of England, or places of Europe, Spurgeon's Travel Letters are eloquent, and many times moving. His "gifts of the pen" shine in them. At long last, they have a place well-deserved, a place all their own.

Now, we ourselves may travel with Spurgeon--discovering the world that he knew. And we may bless God for the privilege given in these letters.