diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 312b3b1e..3fc0dc4a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -513,25 +513,53 @@ stdlog.Print("hello world")
 
 ### context.Context integration
 
-The `Logger` instance could be attached to `context.Context` values with `logger.WithContext(ctx)`
-and extracted from it using `zerolog.Ctx(ctx)`.
+Go contexts are commonly passed throughout Go code, and this can help you pass
+your Logger into places it might otherwise be hard to inject.  The `Logger`
+instance may be attached to Go context (`context.Context`) using
+`Logger.WithContext(ctx)` and extracted from it using `zerolog.Ctx(ctx)`.
+For example:
 
-Example to add logger to context:
 ```go
-// this code attach logger instance to context fields
-ctx := context.Background()
-logger := zerolog.New(os.Stdout)
-ctx = logger.WithContext(ctx)
-someFunc(ctx)
+func f() {
+    logger := zerolog.New(os.Stdout)
+    ctx := context.Background()
+
+    // Attach the Logger to the context.Context
+    ctx = logger.WithContext(ctx)
+    someFunc(ctx)
+}
+
+func someFunc(ctx context.Context) {
+    // Get Logger from the go Context. if it's nil, then
+    // `zerolog.DefaultContextLogger` is returned, if
+    // `DefaultContextLogger` is nil, then a disabled logger is returned.
+    logger := zerolog.Ctx(ctx)
+    logger.Info().Msg("Hello")
+}
 ```
 
-Extracting logger from context:
+A second form of `context.Context` integration allows you to pass the current
+context.Context into the logged event, and retrieve it from hooks.  This can be
+useful to log trace and span IDs or other information stored in the go context,
+and facilitates the unification of logging and tracing in some systems:
+
 ```go
-func someFunc(ctx context.Context) {
-  // get logger from context. if it's nill, then `zerolog.DefaultContextLogger` is returned,
-  // if `DefaultContextLogger` is nil, then disabled logger returned.
-  logger := zerolog.Ctx(ctx)
-  logger.Info().Msg("Hello")
+type TracingHook struct{}
+
+func (h TracingHook) Run(e *zerolog.Event, level zerolog.Level, msg string) {
+    ctx := e.Ctx()
+    spanId := getSpanIdFromContext(ctx) // as per your tracing framework
+    e.Str("span-id", spanId)
+}
+
+func f() {
+    // Setup the logger
+    logger := zerolog.New(os.Stdout)
+    logger = logger.Hook(TracingHook{})
+
+    ctx := context.Background()
+    // Use the Ctx function to make the context available to the hook
+    logger.Info().Ctx(ctx).Msg("Hello")
 }
 ```
 
diff --git a/benchmark_test.go b/benchmark_test.go
index 9aa41008..b2bb79a3 100644
--- a/benchmark_test.go
+++ b/benchmark_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package zerolog
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"errors"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"net"
@@ -160,6 +161,7 @@ func BenchmarkLogFieldType(b *testing.B) {
 		{"a", "a", 0},
 	}
 	errs := []error{errors.New("a"), errors.New("b"), errors.New("c"), errors.New("d"), errors.New("e")}
+	ctx := context.Background()
 	types := map[string]func(e *Event) *Event{
 		"Bool": func(e *Event) *Event {
 			return e.Bool("k", bools[0])
@@ -191,6 +193,9 @@ func BenchmarkLogFieldType(b *testing.B) {
 		"Errs": func(e *Event) *Event {
 			return e.Errs("k", errs)
 		},
+		"Ctx": func(e *Event) *Event {
+			return e.Ctx(ctx)
+		},
 		"Time": func(e *Event) *Event {
 			return e.Time("k", times[0])
 		},
@@ -284,6 +289,7 @@ func BenchmarkContextFieldType(b *testing.B) {
 		{"a", "a", 0},
 	}
 	errs := []error{errors.New("a"), errors.New("b"), errors.New("c"), errors.New("d"), errors.New("e")}
+	ctx := context.Background()
 	types := map[string]func(c Context) Context{
 		"Bool": func(c Context) Context {
 			return c.Bool("k", bools[0])
@@ -318,6 +324,9 @@ func BenchmarkContextFieldType(b *testing.B) {
 		"Errs": func(c Context) Context {
 			return c.Errs("k", errs)
 		},
+		"Ctx": func(c Context) Context {
+			return c.Ctx(ctx)
+		},
 		"Time": func(c Context) Context {
 			return c.Time("k", times[0])
 		},
diff --git a/context.go b/context.go
index 39397d9c..9d860e50 100644
--- a/context.go
+++ b/context.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package zerolog
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"math"
@@ -165,6 +166,15 @@ func (c Context) Err(err error) Context {
 	return c.AnErr(ErrorFieldName, err)
 }
 
+// Ctx adds the context.Context to the logger context. The context.Context is
+// not rendered in the error message, but is made available for hooks to use.
+// A typical use case is to extract tracing information from the
+// context.Context.
+func (c Context) Ctx(ctx context.Context) Context {
+	c.l.ctx = ctx
+	return c
+}
+
 // Bool adds the field key with val as a bool to the logger context.
 func (c Context) Bool(key string, b bool) Context {
 	c.l.context = enc.AppendBool(enc.AppendKey(c.l.context, key), b)
diff --git a/event.go b/event.go
index 5fb46536..2a5d3b08 100644
--- a/event.go
+++ b/event.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package zerolog
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"fmt"
 	"net"
 	"os"
@@ -24,9 +25,10 @@ type Event struct {
 	w         LevelWriter
 	level     Level
 	done      func(msg string)
-	stack     bool   // enable error stack trace
-	ch        []Hook // hooks from context
-	skipFrame int    // The number of additional frames to skip when printing the caller.
+	stack     bool            // enable error stack trace
+	ch        []Hook          // hooks from context
+	skipFrame int             // The number of additional frames to skip when printing the caller.
+	ctx       context.Context // Optional Go context for event
 }
 
 func putEvent(e *Event) {
@@ -417,6 +419,28 @@ func (e *Event) Stack() *Event {
 	return e
 }
 
+// Ctx adds the Go Context to the *Event context.  The context is not rendered
+// in the output message, but is available to hooks and to Func() calls via the
+// GetCtx() accessor. A typical use case is to extract tracing information from
+// the Go Ctx.
+func (e *Event) Ctx(ctx context.Context) *Event {
+	if e != nil {
+		e.ctx = ctx
+	}
+	return e
+}
+
+// GetCtx retrieves the Go context.Context which is optionally stored in the
+// Event.  This allows Hooks and functions passed to Func() to retrieve values
+// which are stored in the context.Context.  This can be useful in tracing,
+// where span information is commonly propagated in the context.Context.
+func (e *Event) GetCtx() context.Context {
+	if e == nil || e.ctx == nil {
+		return context.Background()
+	}
+	return e.ctx
+}
+
 // Bool adds the field key with val as a bool to the *Event context.
 func (e *Event) Bool(key string, b bool) *Event {
 	if e == nil {
diff --git a/hook_test.go b/hook_test.go
index 19bde9d4..e9f5b9ee 100644
--- a/hook_test.go
+++ b/hook_test.go
@@ -2,10 +2,15 @@ package zerolog
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
+	"context"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"testing"
 )
 
+type contextKeyType int
+
+var contextKey contextKeyType
+
 var (
 	levelNameHook = HookFunc(func(e *Event, level Level, msg string) {
 		levelName := level.String()
@@ -31,6 +36,12 @@ var (
 	discardHook = HookFunc(func(e *Event, level Level, message string) {
 		e.Discard()
 	})
+	contextHook = HookFunc(func(e *Event, level Level, message string) {
+		contextData, ok := e.GetCtx().Value(contextKey).(string)
+		if ok {
+			e.Str("context-data", contextData)
+		}
+	})
 )
 
 func TestHook(t *testing.T) {
@@ -120,6 +131,29 @@ func TestHook(t *testing.T) {
 			log = log.Hook(discardHook)
 			log.Log().Msg("test message")
 		}},
+		{"Context/Background", `{"level":"info","message":"test message"}` + "\n", func(log Logger) {
+			log = log.Hook(contextHook)
+			log.Info().Ctx(context.Background()).Msg("test message")
+		}},
+		{"Context/nil", `{"level":"info","message":"test message"}` + "\n", func(log Logger) {
+			// passing `nil` where a context is wanted is against
+			// the rules, but people still do it.
+			log = log.Hook(contextHook)
+			log.Info().Ctx(nil).Msg("test message") // nolint
+		}},
+		{"Context/valid", `{"level":"info","context-data":"12345abcdef","message":"test message"}` + "\n", func(log Logger) {
+			ctx := context.Background()
+			ctx = context.WithValue(ctx, contextKey, "12345abcdef")
+			log = log.Hook(contextHook)
+			log.Info().Ctx(ctx).Msg("test message")
+		}},
+		{"Context/With/valid", `{"level":"info","context-data":"12345abcdef","message":"test message"}` + "\n", func(log Logger) {
+			ctx := context.Background()
+			ctx = context.WithValue(ctx, contextKey, "12345abcdef")
+			log = log.Hook(contextHook)
+			log = log.With().Ctx(ctx).Logger()
+			log.Info().Msg("test message")
+		}},
 		{"None", `{"level":"error"}` + "\n", func(log Logger) {
 			log.Error().Msg("")
 		}},
diff --git a/log.go b/log.go
index e6f6f7c0..7c7c6a20 100644
--- a/log.go
+++ b/log.go
@@ -82,8 +82,7 @@
 //     log.Warn().Msg("")
 //     // Output: {"level":"warn","severity":"warn"}
 //
-//
-// Caveats
+// # Caveats
 //
 // There is no fields deduplication out-of-the-box.
 // Using the same key multiple times creates new key in final JSON each time.
@@ -99,6 +98,7 @@
 package zerolog
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
@@ -218,6 +218,7 @@ type Logger struct {
 	context []byte
 	hooks   []Hook
 	stack   bool
+	ctx     context.Context
 }
 
 // New creates a root logger with given output writer. If the output writer implements
@@ -455,6 +456,7 @@ func (l *Logger) newEvent(level Level, done func(string)) *Event {
 	e := newEvent(l.w, level)
 	e.done = done
 	e.ch = l.hooks
+	e.ctx = l.ctx
 	if level != NoLevel && LevelFieldName != "" {
 		e.Str(LevelFieldName, LevelFieldMarshalFunc(level))
 	}
diff --git a/log_test.go b/log_test.go
index 0e64c494..4d0d93b1 100644
--- a/log_test.go
+++ b/log_test.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package zerolog
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
+	"context"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"net"
@@ -119,7 +120,8 @@ func TestWith(t *testing.T) {
 		Uint64("uint64", 10).
 		Float32("float32", 11.101).
 		Float64("float64", 12.30303).
-		Time("time", time.Time{})
+		Time("time", time.Time{}).
+		Ctx(context.Background())
 	_, file, line, _ := runtime.Caller(0)
 	caller := fmt.Sprintf("%s:%d", file, line+3)
 	log := ctx.Caller().Logger()
@@ -344,6 +346,7 @@ func TestFields(t *testing.T) {
 		Dur("dur", 1*time.Second).
 		Time("time", time.Time{}).
 		TimeDiff("diff", now, now.Add(-10*time.Second)).
+		Ctx(context.Background()).
 		Msg("")
 	if got, want := decodeIfBinaryToString(out.Bytes()), `{"caller":"`+caller+`","string":"foo","stringer":"127.0.0.1","stringer_nil":null,"bytes":"bar","hex":"12ef","json":{"some":"json"},"cbor":"data:application/cbor;base64,gwGCAgOCBAU=","func":"func_output","error":"some error","bool":true,"int":1,"int8":2,"int16":3,"int32":4,"int64":5,"uint":6,"uint8":7,"uint16":8,"uint32":9,"uint64":10,"IPv4":"192.168.0.100","IPv6":"2001:db8:85a3::8a2e:370:7334","Mac":"00:14:22:01:23:45","Prefix":"192.168.0.100/24","float32":11.1234,"float64":12.321321321,"dur":1000,"time":"0001-01-01T00:00:00Z","diff":10000}`+"\n"; got != want {
 		t.Errorf("invalid log output:\ngot:  %v\nwant: %v", got, want)
@@ -462,6 +465,7 @@ func TestFieldsDisabled(t *testing.T) {
 		Dur("dur", 1*time.Second).
 		Time("time", time.Time{}).
 		TimeDiff("diff", now, now.Add(-10*time.Second)).
+		Ctx(context.Background()).
 		Msg("")
 	if got, want := decodeIfBinaryToString(out.Bytes()), ""; got != want {
 		t.Errorf("invalid log output:\ngot:  %v\nwant: %v", got, want)