Tim Vivian (Introduction, notes and translated by) is professor emeritus of religious studies at California State University, Bakersfield, and a retired priest of the Episcopal Church. He has published, among many books, The Life of Antony (with Apostolos N. Athanassakis, 2003), The Holy Workshop of Virtue: The Life of Saint John the Little (with Maged S.A. Mikhail, 2010), Becoming Fire: Through the Year with the Desert Fathers and Mothers (2009) and The Sayings and Stories of the Desert Fathers and Mothers (vol. 1, forthcoming, 2021).

John Chryssavgis (Foreword by) is archdeacon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, theological advisor to the Ecumenical Patriarch, and a clergyman of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. He is the author of several books, including John Climacus: From the Egyptian Desert to the Sinaite Mountain (2018) and Primacy in the Church: The Office of Primate and the Authority of Councils, vols. 1 and 2 (2016 and 2020).