Bringing the skills of a literary historian to the subject, Brian Moloney considers the genesis of Saint Francis of Assisi's Canticle of Brother Sun to show how it works as a carefully composed work of art. The study examines the saint's life and times, the structure of the poem, the features of its style, and the range of its possible meanings.
"[Moloney's] book is comprehensive, well informed, and clearly presented. It certainly serves the purpose of introducing first-time readers to the canticle by offering all the essential ingredients to interpret and analyse it from a literary, theological, and spiritual point of view." - Modern Language Review