Martin Lings gives us powerful reasons for believing that we have now reached a point in time from which 'the end' - whatever that may mean - is already in sight without being immediately imminent. The Eleventh Hour has its roots in the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. The following questions run through the book: why did the latecomers receive the same wage as those who had laboured throughout the heat of the day? Why were they the first to be paid? And why, did Christ say 'And the last shall be first?' These questions are answered in the light of the concept of the Millennium, which is clearly the equivalent of the new Golden Age of the next cycle of time, and which is found in all three monotheistic religions, bringing them into line, in this respect, with Hinduism, Greco-Roman Antiquity and Buddhism.

Martin Lings (born 1909) studied at Oxford and was a pupil and then friend of C S Lewis. He went to Egypt and taught Shakespeare at Cairo University. He then joined the British Museum and was Keeper of Oriental Manuscripts from 1970-74. He has written many books and contributed to the Encyclopedia Britannica and the New Encyclopedia of Islam