Well-structured and rigorously edited. ANALECTA CISTERCIENSIA LXIII This is an excellent introduction.providing a well-balanced and easily accessible overview. It is recommended to anyone interested in monastic or medieval history. H-FRANCE REVIEW A treasure trove of detailed information. CATHOLIC HISTORICAL REVIEW [The authors] are due the thanks of all ... Read moreinterested in medieval monastic life for this fine addition to the literature on one of its most important manifestations. AMERICAN BENEDICTINE REVIEW It will serve undergraduates in the area of Cistercian studies as an introduction to the riches of the primary sources and as a pointer to debates in academic literature. ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW An interesting and well-argued book. JOURNAL OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY A much needed introduction. [It offers] a detailed and readable account of the Cistercians' origins and an analysis of the distinctiveness of the medieval Cistercians' way of life. THE MEDIEVAL REVIEW Concise yet comprehensive...this book deserves to become a standard introductory work for anyone intent on serious Cistercian studies. NORTHERN HISTORY An impressive work of seminal scholarship. MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW An engaging and authoritative history of the Cistercian order from its origins to the end of the Middle Ages. This volume, a further contribution to Boydell's excellent Monastic Orders series, is a wide-ranging, Europe-wide history of the Cistercians, considering them in the religious, cultural, political and economic contexts of their world and time. REVIEWS IN HISTORY For those who teach religious orders or church history, this is must have....It provides a wider understanding of the Cistercian Order and how they interacted with the world as well as a firm basis of their organisation and life in general. H-WRBI A valuable contribution to Cistercian history. Recommended. CHOICE Show Less