A Canticle for Leibowitz

A Canticle for Leibowitz is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by American writer Walter M. Miller Jr. first published in 1960. Based on three short stories Miller contributed to The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction; it is the only novel published by the author during his lifetime. Considered one of the classics of science fiction it has never been out of print and has seen over 25 reprints and editions. Appealing to mainstream and genre critics and readers alike it won the 1961 Hugo Award for best science fiction novel. Set in a Roman Catholic monastery in the desert of the Southwestern United States after a devastating nuclear war the story spans thousands of years as civilization rebuilds itself. The monks of the Albertian Order of Leibowitz take up the mission of preserving the surviving remnants of mans scientific knowledge until the day the outside world is again ready for it. Inspired by the authors participation in the Allied bombing of the monastery at Monte Cassino during World War II the novel is considered a masterpiece by literary critics. It has been compared favorably with the works of Evelyn Waugh Graham Greene and Walker Percy and its themes of religion recurrence and church versus state have generated a significant body of scholarly research. Millers follow-up work Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman was published posthumously in 1997.