This is a comparative study of the founding and endurance of Cistercian houses established on the European frontier in the border regions of Scotland and Pomerania. The author's focus is primarily on the Melrose and Kołbacz communities. The border regions of Europe have in general escaped the notice of mainstream historiography. This work demonstrates that these regions are not only rich in history, but are physically and intellectually an essential part of Europe. The introduction contains a very thorough historiography and includes discussion of the concepts of ‘border’ and ‘frontier’, consideration of Scotland and Pomerania (including Neumark) as frontier regions, issues of colonisation and monasticism on the frontier and an overview of the written sources of the Cistercian communities. Jamroziak works well with these sources and the key concepts which she delineates in her introduction and uses them to minimise nationalistic bias by positioning her work within a larger scholarship of differing historiographical approaches. The abbeys of Melrose and Kołbacz played a significant part in the development of their respective regions and communities from the late twelfth century to the Reformation. Their history is relatively well documented in charters and chronicles. Jamroziak's approach is interesting. Often she uses examples from Scotland, which is more familiar to a reader of English, in order to illuminate similar processes in Pomerania. This offers a more understandable perspective on Central Europe and specifically of the Pomeranian borderlands, an area contested by the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Poland. A strength of the book is its discussion of the support networks developed by Cistercians to establish and maintain their houses as well as their relationships with the order's benefactors and the ability of the Cistercian communities to function across political boundaries and shifting feudal loyalties. Although I feel that Jamroziak's outline of the Cistercian mission to the Prussians is possibly too simplistic, the geographical boundaries that she has drawn for her book naturally limit the discussion of this interesting topic. A matter that perhaps needs to be addressed by the editors of the series and the publisher is that the titles of non-English (in particular Polish) publications referenced in the book should be followed by an English translation. This would broaden the appeal of Jamroziak's sources and somewhat mitigate the lack of a bibliography. Jamroziak's book contributes to an increasing body of research on Cistercians, frontiers and contested identities. The book's value lies in providing a detailed examination of regional history which will enable others to build the larger picture of the making of Europe.