Ann Power's narrative of the Sisters of St Brigid provides a ‘detailed transnational history of the Brigidines set in the comparative context of the history of women religious and education in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries’ (p. 13). As such it differs from earlier histories of the order that have been more local or national in scope. While it is at heart a religious history, it is also a good example of how religious factors are both affected by and contribute to wider historical contexts (in this case Irish national and diasporic history, women's history and educational history). It contributes substantively to each of these fields. In the main its structure is chronological (chapters i–iv on Irish origins and development; chapters v–viii on the order's expansion to America, Australia and New Zealand) with the final two chapters taking a more broadly thematic and evaluative approach. The book contends (not overtly clear in the introduction but stated more substantively in the conclusion) that the order's slow numerical growth (compared with contemporary women's movements), both in Ireland and in other parts of the British Empire or Anglo world, was substantially hindered by the nature of its initial foundation in 1807 (rural and confined to one diocese), attendant financial problems and perhaps, longer term, by the attenuated journey towards papal approval (not finally given until 1907). At the same time Power suggests that in Ireland growth did take place ‘in conjunction with the growth of the national school system and secondary education’ (p. 368). Education, especially girls’ education, lies at the heart of this narrative and proved important for the sisters’ collective identity and raison d'etre both in Ireland and across the diaspora. Power has done well to carefully integrate the Brigidine story with the development of educational projects in particular contexts; and at the same time to set each of these within larger discourses of anti-Catholicism, gender, social class, age, empire and spirituality. Also central to her narrative are the individual sisters who constituted the order, gave it life and vibrancy, who laboured at huge personal cost, and who effectively ensured that the order's mission was fulfilled as far as possible in multiple demanding circumstances. Their stories are brought to life both in the text, and in short prosopographical sketches at the end of the book; furthermore they are historiographically contextualised in a helpful manner in chapter ix. Overall the detail is rich, at times dense, and in places requires a second reading. A glossary of technical terms, especially for the reader not conversant with Roman Catholicism, would have made reading easier. However, the end result is a book that provides both a critical and yet compassionate treatment of the Brigidines, that emphasises geographical differentiation and individual agency and that successfully historicises the order's story across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.