For years theater director Bryan Doerries has been producing ancient Greek tragedies for a wide range of at-risk people in society. His is the personal and deeply passionate story of a life devoted to reclaiming the timeless power of an ancient artistic tradition to comfort the afflicted.

Doerries leads an innovative public health project-Theater of War-that produces ancient dramas for current and returned soldiers, people in recovery from alcohol and substance abuse, tornado and hurricane survivors, and more. Tracing a path that links the personal to the artistic to the social and back again, Doerries shows us how suffering and healing are part of a timeless process in which dialogue and empathy are inextricably linked.

The originality and generosity of Doerries’s work is startling, and The Theater of War-wholly unsentimental, but intensely felt and emotionally engaging-is a humane, knowledgeable, and accessible book that will both inspire and enlighten.