Sisters: Catholic Nuns and the Making of America

By John Fialka and John J. Fialka

Book Overview

Praise for "Sisters"""Sisters"'s strength is Fialka's ability to put flesh and blood into the accounts of the lives and work of sisters and to show through these lives the immense contribution to American society."---"National Catholic Reporter""Fialka tells [the nuns'] story passionately, analyzing their remarkable contributions to education, health care, social reform, and civil rights."---"San Francisco Chronicle""Fialka is bent on recovering those thrilling days of yesteryear when flocks of sisters . . . pushed beyond the settled boundaries of nineteenth-century America to aid in the civilizing of a continent."---Kenneth L. Woodward," The New York Times Book Review""In a book as sweeping as its title, John J. Fialka lays out the major role of Catholic nuns in the building of our nation."---"Providence Journal""["Sisters "is a] well sourced and often sparkling narrative about legions of spirited and spiritual Catholic sisters."---"Washington Post"

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312262299
• ISBN13: 9780312262297
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Witness to social decline

This book is at once fascinating and heartbreaking. As a non-Catholic, I was amazed at the accomplishments of Sisters in the US. I used to see them when I was a child, knew they existed but they were mysterious and hidden to me. Reading this book, I feel we have lost something so precious and powerful. As Christianity declines, it is not so much the religion itself I miss, but some - like these - of it's powerful institutions...

Sisters: gutsy, fearless, inspirational women

"Sisters" is a comprehensive look at how Catholic sistes contributed to the development and growth of the United States of America. From hospitals, to schools to homes of refuge for prostitutes, one can see that Catholic sisters are a fearless cadre of determined women who work long hours, sacrifice much and give without counting the cost. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and learning about the Sisters of Mercy in particular,...

Well-written history of women with guts and compassion

By the time I entered a Catholic elementary school in 1980, only one elderly sister was rumored to be residing in the church's convent. Two years later, the building was used for storage and our music room. Today, daily obituaries show how accomplished many of these women were - receiving an education that would have been unheard of for most women in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. It was not until I read this book that I really...

"Where have all the Sisters gone . . . "

Boy, if this isn't an eye-opener! Not a particularly scholarly treatise (thank God), the book nonetheless chronicles well the incredible story of the impact on our American history and way of life "the Sisters" have had. Living in the "heyday" of the 50's - early 60's, and having had the blessings of a parochial education, I was not only mesmerized by Fialka's exploration of the scope and breadth and depth of the impact nuns...

Extremely interesting book, combines history and information

Sisters: Catholic Nuns and the Making of America is anoverview of the influence and contributions of nuns in thevast American land. There are a few statistics, someinterviews, and a great deal of history. History can bea very slow read. It can be to dense to wade through.But Fialka does a great job of presenting history in away that is not only interesting, but also enjoyable toread. The only sad part, of course, comes...