This book is a study of the Franciscan friary of St. Bernardino in Olomouc from the beginning of the Swedish occupation of Olomouc in 1642 to the dissolution of the friary in 1785 ordered by Habsburg Empress Maria Theresa. Elbel tells us that Olomouc was a mid-sized city, according to the standards of the Habsburg monarchy, with a population estimated at around 8,000. It was the aspiring capital of Moravia, one of the three major lands of the Bohemian Crown—a position it shared throughout the Middle Ages with Brno but was lost when major land offices moved to the latter city during the Thirty Years War. Olomouc was also the seat of a vast diocese, covering the entirety of Moravia; yet it was a royal city, which meant that the bishop had limited powers.

The foundation for the St. Wenceslaus province of the new Observant reform branch of the Franciscan order, covering all of Bohemia and Moravia, was laid in the mid-fifteenth century during the mission and preaching of John of Capistrano in Olomouc in 1451. The first observant friars arrived on Candlemas Day in 1453, and the foundation stone of the monastery was laid later that year. In the 1490s, the friary was rebuilt and became one of the largest houses in the province; and in 1526, it became the center of the order's Moravian custodia. However, by then, the Reformation had spread in Olomouc, largely through the German-speaking population, whose goals, according to Elbel, were more radical than those of the Utraquists. Franciscan friars were among those stepping forward as the first preachers. Also, the Reformation limited the attraction of novices who came largely from the cities. In the end, the friars had to abandon the large and maintenance intensive St. Bernardino friary. However, a deal was struck with Archbishop William Prusnovský that would give it back to the Franciscans at a later time.

The period of the Swedish occupation (1642–1650) was the last time Olomouc experienced the coexistence of several confessional groups. Although parishioners of the Church of Saint Maurice exhibited passive resistance when the Swedes starting sharing the church for their Lutheran services, on the whole, the Swedes supported a peaceful coexistence between the locals and the Swedish garrison. And the person charged with the cathedral, Michael Jahn, befriended the commander of the Swedish garrison and mediated disputes with Catholic institutions.

Paradoxically, according to Elbel, when Catholic renewal began, it took another twelve years for the Franciscans to receive their friary because the new Jesuit college, which was subsequently promoted to university status, took the forefront. And then, they were confronted with the challenge of having to continually highlight the points that set them apart from other orders: the idea and practice of absolute poverty. Elbel explores how alms, mass stipends, and the blessing of sacramentals were important factors shaping and consolidating the ties of the Franciscan to their patrons and benefactors in the city and financially secured the friary. And the friary had links to the surrounded areas as well—especially beginning in the 1740s when they received papal approval and support for the exclusive rights to manage and consecrate Stations of the Cross devotion. Elbel quotes that five hundred Stations of the Cross were consequently established in the Bohemian lands.

The War of the Austrian Succession, in which Olomouc was forced in 1741 to surrender to Prussian troops, put a halt to the renewal of the friary and greatly affected the character of the city. Work began on a large modern fortress, and the city was slowly becoming a fortress city whose life was subordinated to military needs. But through their successful involvement in pastoral care, according to Elbel, the Franciscans were able to flexibly respond to changing conditions. However, in the late eighteenth century, imperial interventions influenced by Enlightenment rationalism put religious orders first under episcopal and then increasingly under state control. On August 13, 1785, the Moravian Land Gubernium, in cooperation with the directorship of the chamber estates, issued a decree to close down the Friary of St. Bernardino, which at that time had only 36 people living there, roughly 17 less than normal, according to Elbel.

The chapter divisions, largely thematic, do not always hold strictly to a linear chronology, which can sometimes disorient the reader. But, overall, the work is well focused and well written—along with a fine English text—and the narrative is concise. It draws on extensive archival records in Olomouc, Brno, and Prague—including a rich chronicle of the Bohemian province of the chapter from 1650—and new scholarship on religious history both in the Czech Republic and beyond. Catholic Renewal has been an important theme in contemporary Czech historical scholarship, after having been a taboo subject in the communist era. Beyond the Wall offers a critical study of the Franciscans as it seeks to understand the Franciscans on their own terms, though it is rooted in international scholarship. It is a good addition to scholarship on the Franciscan order and the workings of Baroque Catholicism in the Bohemian Crown Lands. It also serves as a valuable companion for English readers of the religious history of this city, alongside another volume in English published by Viella—The Transformation of Confessional Culture in a Central European City: Olomouc, 1450–1750, edited by Antonín Kalouš (2015)—addressing broader confessional issues, in which Martin Elbel has also has a contribution.