Thisis the first in-depth study of post-war female religious life. It draws on archival materials and a remarkable set of eighty interviews to place Catholic sisters and nuns at the heart of the turbulent 1960s, integrating their story of social change into a larger British and international one. Shedding new light on how religious bodies engaged in modernisation, it addresses themes such as the Modern Girl and youth culture, 1968, generational discourse, post-war modernity, the voluntary sector and the womens movement. Women religious were at the forefront of the Roman Catholic Churchs movement of adaptation and renewal towards the world. This volume tells their stories in their own words.

Carmen M. Mangion is Senior Lecturer in Modern History at Birkbeck, University of London

1 Introduction2 Before the Council: post-war modernity and religious vocations3 The modern girl and religious life4 Governance, authority and 19685 Relationships, generation discourse and the turn to self6 The world in the cloister and the nun in the world7 Local and global: changing ministries8 Becoming a woman9 ConclusionIndex