Although an intimate of the Paris circle, Michel Waldberg was not a follower of Gurdjieff. This important book is the first to approach Gurdjieff's thought from an objective and uncommitted viewpoint, examining both the message he brought and the way he transmitted it. Waldberg has put Gurdjieff into the context of his time and his place: Turkmenistan, Russia or France; and also the esoteric tradition, the Sufic, the Eastern and the Russian ideas, the "way of blame" and the work exercise and disciplines to achieve the harmonious development of Man.