The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene; Unabridged MP3 Audio Book; Narrator Bernard Mayes

Winner of the Hawthornden Prize

In a poor, remote section of southern Mexico, the Red Shirts have taken control. God has been outlawed, and the priests have been systematically hunted down and killed. Now, the last priest strives to overcome physical and moral cowardice in order to find redemption.

Graham Greene explores corruption and atonement in this penetrating novel set in 1930s Mexico during the era of Communist religious persecutions. As revolutionaries determine to stamp out the evils of the church through violence, the last Roman Catholic priest is on the lam, hunted by a police lieutenant. Despite his own sense of worthlessness—he is a heavy drinker and has fathered an illegitimate child—he is determined to continue to function as a priest until captured. He is contrasted with Padre Jose, a priest who has accepted marriage and embodies humiliation.

A Christian parable pitting God and religion against twentieth-century materialism, The Power and the Glory is considered by many, including the author himself, to be Greene’s best work.

“[A]s brilliantly written as it is magnificently conceived.”—Chicago Sun

“The book should attract…not only those who read for diversion and excitement, but those, too, who read for the pleasure of superb writing and shrewd contriving of story.”—Chicago Daily Tribune

“Greene has drawn this man—and all he encounters—vividly and viscerally…this brilliant theological thriller has far more mysteries—and troubling ideals—than certainties.”—Amazon.com Review

“Greene’s masterpiece.”—John Updike

Graham Greene (1904—1991) was an English novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. He was an ardent convert to Catholicism, and all of his writings reflect his religious views. His novels are set in places in a state of seedy decay, and many of his locations, such as Vietnam in The Quiet American and Cuba in Our Man in Havana, became international crisis spots.