Tis book puts in context the place of Christian monasticism in the story of the world. That is the theme the author has tried to deal with, and though many excellent things have been written about monks this book deals with their earnest labours for mankind from just this point of view.

The twin pillars of mediaeval civilization were the tradition of Home and Christian monasticism (rather than the Christian faith as such), and each had a great contribution to make. In this book the author has attempted to set forth the main outlines of the second pillar of medievalism - those tasks so well achieved by the monks whose original traditions might have appeared so exceedingly unpromising.