In Truth Seekers: Voices of Peace and Nonviolence from Gandhi to Pope Francis, David Cortright skillfully gathers together excerpts from the writings of advocates for nonviolent resistance, ranging from classic figures of the twentieth century such as Mohandas K. Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Dorothy Day, to twenty-first-century leaders such as Wangari Matthai and William J. Barber II. The volume can serve as a helpful primer for students and a vade mecum for seasoned practitioners and theorists of nonviolence.

One of the strengths of the book is how it shows the family relationships among advocates for nonviolence. The volume begins with a chapter of passages from Gandhi, the “pioneer” (1) of civil disobedience, and later chapters make clear the influence of Gandhi on later figures such as King, Nelson Mandela, and American antiwar activist A. J. Muste. Excerpts from more recent activists such as the Palestinian Mubarak Awad and the American scholars Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan show how later generations have learned the keys to effective nonviolent strategizing from their predecessors.

Through carefully selected excerpts, the volume also illustrates the intersections between nonviolent resistance and key social justice issues. In a chapter on women's voices, for example, Cortright includes passages by American scholars bell hooks and Sara Ruddick linking the inequality of women and violence against women with more public forms of violence and arguing that the struggle for nonviolence must also be a struggle for gender equality. In introductory remarks for the chapter, Cortright insightfully suggests that the male bias in the selection of authors for peace studies and nonviolent action courses can itself be an obstacle to successful nonviolent advocacy. Other excerpts explore the intersection of nonviolence and race, including those by King, passages by Mandela and Desmond Tutu in the South African context, and a number of short passages by Palestinian and Israeli activists.

One of the most intriguing aspects of the volume is how it shows the fundamental tension between spiritual introspection and pragmatic strategizing among practitioners and scholars of nonviolent resistance. For example, the volume begins with Gandhi's reflections on the concept of satyagraha, the notion that aligning oneself with the truth through self-mastery and the pursuit of wisdom generates a power that is expressed through nonviolent action. This inward-focused pursuit of truth is echoed in different ways by King and religious figures such as Pope John Paul II, the rabbi and activist Lynn Gottlieb, and the Pakistani Muslim leader Abdul Ghaffar Khan. In contrast, the scholar Gene Sharp uses the secular tools of political science to expound nonviolence as an effective strategy for political change, and the contemporary political scientists Chenoweth and Stephan use statistical analysis to measure the effectiveness of nonviolent resistance movements compared to violent resistance.

Although the volume includes a diverse range of voices, it does not include, aside from the Palestinian Quaker Jean Zaru, any representatives from the Christian Peace Churches, an important branch of the family of nonviolence advocates. A bit more historical context could also have been provided in the introductory sections for the benefit of students. In some places, excerpts from different works or different sections of the same work are strung together and typeset as if they are one longer passage, with each excerpt marked by a footnote citing its source. Although designed for ease of reading, the practice could be confusing for students, especially when citations from within the original source material are also included among the footnotes.

The volume would be an excellent text for an undergraduate course in peace studies. The editorial sensitivity to the religious worldview of many of the activists and scholars excerpted and the inclusion of diverse religious figures would make the book useful in a theology or religious studies classroom, as well. Chapters and subsections of the volume could easily stand alone as class readings. The book will also be of value to scholars and activists, collecting familiar treasures and surprising new gems.