Book excerpt: Written by one of the foremost contemporary authorities on Saint Dominic, this book represents the latest, best, most concise and readable spiritual biography of Saint Dominic. The focus of the biography is the way in which Saint Dominic embodied the role of Christ as preacher and the results that came from this grace. From his earliest youth, Sacred Scripture was the very heart and foundation of Dominic's spiritual life. He never ceased to plunge into the Word of God, to study it, to pray it. Bedouelle thus documents how Saint Dominic's whole life and mission was one continuous proclamation of the power of the Gospel to transform individual lives and society. ""Written in both a popular and scholarly style, the combination of historical comprehensiveness and keen theological insight in this work brings Dominic alive as the contemplative and tireless preacher, fed from a deeply interior stream of life"" - Gabriel O'Donnell, O.P., from the Preface