Book recommendation?

[DisplayNameBlock]

Does anyone have a recommendation for a book on the history of Christian/Catholic monasticism?  Looking for something with more of an academic bent than a spiritual one, although something for a popular audience would be great.  Thank you!

[Nunsuch]

What period and geographic area? Women or men? Can you be more specific? I mean, there are literally hundreds of such books, and scholarly books tend to be relatively specialized.

[DisplayNameBlock]

I'm decently versed in Desert Fathers stuff, so more modern than that––would be interested in medieval through IDK, mid-20th century?  More interested in women than in men definitely.  And am also interested in how in Catholicism different orders developed different charisms.  I don't need a hyper-specialized academic book but maybe there is no such thing for a lay/secular/popular reader that covers so much ground.

[Nunsuch]

I'm not sure I can help you. You are talking literally several continents and over 1500 years. While I'm not a medievalist, or an early modernist, it's not clear what you are looking for: theology, ecclesiology, history (which is more than descriptiveness), etc. I'm not even sure you are really interested in monasticism, as most religious orders (and certainly most congregations) are not monastic. I have 8 6-foot bookcases of books on women's religious life in the US (over about 2 centuries) alone, for instance. As of 1917, there were over 425 apostolic communities of women in the US alone, and I'm not counting contemplatives! In other words, the subject is enormous.

So far as women are concerned, you might want to start with JoAnn K. McNamara's Sisters in Arms: Catholic Nuns through Two Millennia (Harvard U.P., 1996). While it is weakest on the modern period (and she would have acknowledged this), it is still the best overall survey of women's religious life (I read it for the press when it was under consideration). You might also want to look at its extensive footnotes, etc., though it is now 25+ years old and a lot of work has been done since. That's the best suggestion I can make.

[Lady Grey, Hot]

50 minutes ago, Nunsuch said:

(I read it for the press when it was under consideration)

Can I just say how incredibly cool this is? I'm in awe of McNamara.

[Nunsuch]

43 minutes ago, Lady Grey, Hot said:

Can I just say how incredibly cool this is? I'm in awe of McNamara.

Thanks! She was not only a fine scholar but a good friend.

[Nunsuch]

I just checked, and Sisters in Arms is available to read for free on archive.org.

[DisplayNameBlock]

Ok that sounds like a great start, thanks!  Hard to narrow down what will be most helpful for me––this is for work and I think that as I go through the material, it will become clearer to me what I need to focus on.