Nathan Söderblom

Nathan Söderblom(1866-1931), was not only a profoundly influential figure in Swedish churchhistory, but also one of the great pioneers of the modern ecumenical movement.Elected Archbishop of Uppsala, the head of the Lutheran church in Sweden, in1914, he was a ceaseless advocate for peace during the first world war. Hiscollaboration with George Bell laid the foundations for intercommunion betweenthe Church of Sweden and the Church of England. Finally, in the year before hedied, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.Despite this, untilthis landmark biography he was largely neglected by historians, the subject ofonly a few partial studies. In Nathan Söderblom: His Life and Work,Bengt Sundkler corrects this, with new analysis of Söderblom's meticulouslypreserved correspondence and interviews with his family, friends and formerstudents. The resulting image is of a man deeply committed to his leadership ofecumenical projects, most significantly his movement of 'Life and Work', butalso of a complex and fascinating personality. 

Bengt G.M. Sundkler (1908-1995) was a Swedish-Tanzanian churchhistorian and bishop of Bukoba. His academic appointments included positions inUppsala, Aberdeen and Tübingen. As well as his work on world Christianity andAfrican church history, which included Bantu Prophets in South Africa (JamesClarke & Co., 1948), he wrote several works on Nathan Söderblom.