In the furore leading up to the year 2000, many people may have forgotten the true meaning of millennium. In this beautiful book, Sister Wendy Beckett celebrates the anniversary of the birth of Christ, by re-telling the Christmas story.

Sister Wendy Beckett introduced millions of people to a new appreciation of art through the `Story of Painting', shown on BBC television. A nun since the age of 16 who continues to live in seclusion on the grounds of a Carmelite monastery, Sister Wendy has become one of the world's most original celebrities, interpreting and critiquing great works of art in an uncanny, insightful and informative fashion that speaks to everyone from art historians to art lovers. Now she turns her unique powers of communication to the Christmas story.

Sister Wendy's Nativity is a brand new book illustrated with over 40 exquisite miniatures and illuminations depicting the nativity story, currently held by the Vatican Library and other Italian State libraries. To celebrate the millennium, the Vatican Library and the Italian Ministry of Culture are holding an exhibition of the illustrations in 1999 and 2000. Many of the illustrations have never been seen by the public before. They are particularly suited to a narrative as they were themselves painted around a text to instruct and inspire. The combination of these inspirational illustrations and Sister Wendy's personal observations, make Sister Wendy's Nativity an ideal gift for Christmas 1998 and throughout 1999.