The Cambridge Companion to Bunyan

This is an important and long-awaited title; the first collection of essays to introduce the author of one of the most popular prose works in the English language, The Pilgrim's Progress.But it is also shorter than most of the already concise companions in the present series.The reason is clear throughout.Bunyan was no John Milton; he "never quite reached the status of Puritan bard" (7).Bunyan's companion has been preceded by more than a hundred Cambridge companions to individual authors already in print.Milton's companion was, in contrast, among the first to be published and, now in its second edition, is understandably nearly twice as long.Milton's reputation still enjoys "a far more celebrated and enduring place in the canon than Bunyan's" (29).But there is more to Bunyan than The Pilgrim's Progress: he was also the author of one of the finest spiritual autobiographies in the language, one of the earliest novels, a political allegory of historical interest, and a primer for children, in addition to some 53 other works recognized in the Bunyan canon.The editor makes a strong case for Bunyan's status as a major author.Instead of favouring Bunyan's most famous allegory, Duncan-Page allocates only a single chapter to it: The Pilgrim's Progress is placed on equal footing with Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, The Life and Death of Mr. Badman, The Holy War, and A Book for Boys and Girls, which are all, for better or worse, presented as major works deserving of their own chapters.This could not have been an easy decision.The benefit is that the contents reflect the full range of Bunyan's achievement, drawing serious attention to lesser known works, and his best known is prevented from eclipsing the others.The problem is that none of these works, with the possible exception of Grace Abounding, is equal to The Pilgrim's Progress in most readers' minds.Stuart Kim makes a compelling argument for the relative importance of Mr. Badman, and Michael Davies provides a useful context for appreciating Grace Abounding, but all David Walker can do with The Holy War is survey the politics contemporary with the allegory and glance at superior analogues; he begins helpfully with a summary of the story, since presumably few readers

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