The Imitation of Christ is among the most successful books worldwide. Thomas a Kempis, a regular canon from Zwolle in the Netherlands wrote it to educate the brothers in his religious community, but it was to have a much wider impact. From its inception to the present day, it inspired people all over the planet. This volume explores how Thomas a Kempis created this text and how it was appropriated in widely divergent contexts, ranging from Early Modern Europe to the twentieth century, from the medieval Low Countries to Japan, across various confessions.