The editors of this fine volume, Constant J. Mews and Claire Renkin, focus on St Francis's radical response to the problems besetting the medieval Church and its reinvigoration through his preaching mission which was grounded in his own rich mystical experience. Il poverello's fervent and urgent proclamation of the Gospel captured the attention and admiration of many, including Clare of Assisi, a member of the Offredducio family, whose proud home overlooked the piazza di San Rufino, the city's cathedral church. The interpretation of the lives of these two saints and their perennial appeal is reflected in the twenty papers assembled in this volume. These studies were delivered at a conference held at Yarra Theological Union, an institute of Melbourne College of Divinity on 20/21 November 2009. This volume brings together work by luminaries in the field of Franciscan studies and reflection by those who have endeavoured to live the ideals of Francis and Clare for some years. The text is richly illustrated, beginning with some of the earliest English depictions of St Francis and his followers and ending with tapestries featuring St Clare. The book opens with papers by Jacques Dalarun and Michael F. Cusato ofm, two of the leading authorities on the genesis of the Franciscan movement and its varied literature. The reception of the Franciscan ideal in thirteenth-century England is explored by Judith Collard who considers Matthew Paris's four paintings of the founder and his followers (Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, ms 16), and Brother William's depiction of the Apocalyptic Christ (British Library, ms Cotton Nero, D.1). The monastic chronicler's admiration for il poverello and his early disciples was matched by his scorn for the excesses perpetrated by friars in the 1240s. The article closes with a survey of recent research regarding William de Anglia, the friar closely associated with St Francis. Some of the reform movements are explored by Maurice Carmody who charts the path of renewal and contrasts the different roles played by the papacy in response to renewal. By the beginning of the sixteenth century the Observants were drawn into papal policies and were raising funds through their preaching of indulgences from 1508. Nine years later they were much more effective collectors of money for this cause than the Friars Minor Conventual. Leo x's decree of 29 May 1517 divided the family of St Francis and pronounced the Observants to be the authentic Friars Minor. The reform of religious life by Pius ix is examined in the context of the Irish province of the Friars Minor which witnessed some resistance to the reforms promoted by Fr Patrick O'Reilly, the guardian of Drogheda. O'Reilly's unpopular visitation of 1852 ultimately led to exile and his departure for Australia in 1854, where he ministered in different parishes until 1874. His ministry paved the way for the establishment of the first Recollect Franciscan community near Sydney in 1880. Michael F. Cusato perceptively traces the founder's attitude towards coins with the title ‘Turpe lucrum, stercus, capitale: the evolving relationship of the Friars Minor to money’. He explains that the first friars saw money as the betrayal of their evangelical profession. The place accorded to coins was a prominent feature of the series of decisions and recommendations made by popes, individual friars and general chapters of the order in the thirteenth century. The above offers a sample of the rich reflection contained in this attractive volume, which will be welcomed by scholars in the field of Franciscan studies.