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When he was still a catechumen of the Russian Church Abroad, long before he became Fr. Seraphim, Eugene Rose had a grand conception, which was a work to be entitled "The Kingdom of Man and the Kingdom of God"; it was to be a spiritual history of Mankind, and a comprehensive contrast between two disparate world-views, that which places its hope on the ability of Humanity to master itself and its environment, and that which places its hope soley on God, and looks to the advent of the heavenly kingdom at the end of this age as the only solution to the world's problems. Like most incredibly ambitious projects, it failed to be completed; all that came of it was a large pile of notes and one finished chapter. After his early death at the age of forty-eight, that chapter was published as "Nihilism".

After becoming a monk, Fr. Seraphim lost all interest in philosophical discourse as an end in itself, and his writing became much more down-to-earth, and focused entirely on "pastoral" concerns, though he continued to utilise his incisive intellect and profound scholarship in adressing these concerns. He refused to have this book published during his life, though urged to do so by a brother monk. Perhaps it was an ego thing with him, and he didn't want the temptation to intellectual pride that might result from its publication, but the work also seems very dark and heavy to many readers, so perhaps he didn't want to risk darkening any spirits in our already dark and oppresive times. I think it must remain an open question whether the author of this work would have been pleased by its publication.

For myself, I am glad the decision to publish was made; more than any other work, this book helped coalesce my view of intellectual history, bringing meaning to things before unclear to me. Fr. Seraphim is as good as Chesterton in that way; much less witty, of course, but also much more deeply spiritual. Not even his worst enemy could justly accuse Fr. Seraphim of frivolity.

The best parts of the book are the chapter where he diagnoses the different stages of nihilism, demonstrating that movements which seem wholly divergent and even contradictory are in fact involved in the same nihilist dialectic; the parts where he demonstrates that all characteristic modern movements are involved in this dialectic, especially his analysis of successive periods of modern art, in which he clearly sees the face of the "last Man" emerging, and the final chapter, in which he addresses the question "after Nihilism, what"? The last few paragraphs of the book have a power rarely to be found in any form of literature, let alone works on philosophical topics, which tend to be rather dry and listless.

The only problems with the book have to do with the editing, which is inferior to that of most of the other publications of St. Herman's. The editor's introduction presents a rather whimsical portrait of Eugene Rose, which wouldn't do much toward making me want to read the book if I weren't already inclined to do so. Likewise, the photo chosen to demonstrate Fr. Seraphim's "sobriety" of demeanour to me makes him look like one of the people who habitually wander through bus terminals, for whom sobriety is not the most notable feature. The essay appended to the end of the book reads like a first draft of the book itself, in that it covers much of the same material, but is much less precise in expression, and is wandering and disjointed; coming immediately after the most powerful paragraphs in the book, it in effect diminishes the impact the book would have if it were allowed to end on a high note. For those not accustomed to reading philosophical material, a glossary would be of great assistance.

Despite these detractions, this is a great book. If you are at all sympathetic with the author's perspective, it will resonate in the core of your being. Though it is a very short book, I can think of no other work which has so profoundly affected me.