In this fascinating study appealinn to people from the widest variety of traditions Professor Herr outlines Catholic social teaching. His far-ranging discussion covers a great many important topics: from basic issues in formulating Christian doctrine on social questions to particular problems of economic and industrial life and, beyond this, to the kind of political order necessary for full human development. 

This is a book of many uses. It is suitable as a textbook on Catholic social teaching, describing it with thoroughness and great competence. But it is also useful as an instrument in personal research and reflection. Indeed, it provides much valuable information for anyone looking into fundamental social and political concerns, and its accessible and thematic approach makes it helpful both to students and to people with no formal training. 

In his penetrating introduction to the book, Rodger Charles S.J. points to the continuity in Catholic social teaching, exemplified by Professor Herr's study, while at the same time discussing the cotents of the book in the light of recent thinking. 

Theodor Herr, who was born in 1929, is Professor of Theology at the University of Paderborn, Germany.