Bernard McGinn, considered by experts to be the best scholar of Western Christian mysticism in the world, became known far beyond academia with the 1991 publication of The Foundations of Mysticism: Origins to the Fifth Century. The initial volume in a four-volume series was greeted with immediate and unprecedented critical praise.
This second volume, The Growth of Mysticism, will also stand on its own as a towering achievement, taking up the story from 500 to 1200 CE. It is the fascinating history of early medieval mysticism when monasticism was the dominant religious and educational institution of the new post-Roman world. It brings to life such visionaries as Gregory the Great, John Scottus Eriugena, Bernard of Clairvaux, and many others. Filled with knowledge and wisdom, The Growth of Mysticism is grounded in the highest scholarship.