Dan Burke, founder and president of the Avila Institute for Spiritual Formation, has written Spiritual Warfare and the Discernment of Spirits (Sophia Institute Press, 128pp, £11.48/$14.95) from his personal experience of spiritual warfare – not the kind that requires formal exorcism but the more subtle and pervasive type that afflicts many people, though they do not realise it, with a negative, dispiriting and cynical approach to life. A deeply unhappy childhood, filled with emotional and physical violence, left Burke struggling as an adult with anxiety, frustration, fear and despair. Healing came about through his conversion and the discovery of Scripture, as well as the saints – notably St Teresa of Avila.  This book explains St Ignatius’s method for the discernment of evil spirits. Burke goes through Ignatius’s 14 rules, showing in plain language how they can be used effectively in spiritual combat. Describing himself as “a Hebrew Catholic who was once an unfulfilled Jew”, he reminds readers that healing requires the acceptance of foundational truths: they must have a personal relationship to God; go to regular Mass and Confession; build daily prayer into their lives; recognise the need for self-denial; and examine their conscience daily.   For those already embarking on the battle, these requirements will be self-evident. Burke includes questions at the end of each chapter, requiring the reader to relate the material he has read to his or her own life and circumstances.  In his list of recommended reading at the end of the book, I was glad to see that Burke has included The Sacrament of the Present Moment, that wonderful little classic by Jean-Pierre de Caussade which repays reading and re-reading. My own copy came from an elderly lady who had heavily underlined almost every page.