In this updated version of a book he wrote in 1983, Rowan Williams takes a hard look at the rampant violence in our time and the continued yearning for peace. What Christian resources can we bring to bear on these two timely issues? The 104th Archbishop of Canterbury sees war and peace as subjects that deserve to be seen as spiritual rather than political. The title of the book comes from an experiment tried in the early Middle Ages at the monastery of Cluny. In order to stem the tide of violence between the warring landlords, this religious institution sponsored and encouraged "the truce of God" whereby combatants would lay down their arms for four days and restrict their enmities to three days (Monday to Wednesday). Williams makes the point that these monks did what they could to end the violence in their strife-obsessed times. Of course, one wonders what would happen if the world's religions would proclaim their own "truce of God" and challenge all nations and terrorists to end their warfare. Williams laments the variety of violence in our times where the cluster bombing of Afghanistan and the suicide bombings in Israel both signal a continuing reliance on power and the ability to take life randomly. The search for peace, in the author's eyes, must not be seen as sentimental or some idealized return to harmony. Instead, peace must be built one step at a time in communities all over the world.