Monks and Monasteries of the Egyptian Deserts

“In the fourth century A.D. the deserts of Egypt saw the birth of Christian monasticism under the tutelage of the desert fathers. Since then the movement has spread around the world. This standard work traces the historical development of all the currently inhabited Coptic monasteries, drawing on a wide variety of sources, including accounts by early Western travelers. …

First published in 1961, … has been fully revised to take account of the remarkable renaissance and growth of Coptic monasticism within the last quarter century.”