Fifty years ago, a scrawny, in-over-his-head country preacher stepped into the gang-ridden streets of New York City. Most people thought he had gone crazy. But David Wilkerson’s faith in God led him to never look back. Today his inner-city ministry, Teen Challenge, boasts residential and crisis counseling centers in more than seventy countries. Its Christian discipleship program has restored hope to tens of thousands of men and women with drug or alcohol addiction. In this 45th anniversary edition of The Cross and the Switchblade, which has now sold more than 15 million copies, readers will experience the dramatic story that started it all and see how God is able to overcome problems that human efforts can’t solve. (See Run Baby Run for the companion story to this book.)