The Knights of Columbus: An Illustrated History

Married coauthors Andrew and Maureen Walther—vice president for communications and strategic planning and a former special assistant to the Knights of Columbus CEO, respectively—explore the formation, goals, and accomplishments of the Catholic fraternal organization in this laudatory history. Full of engaging vignettes and images, the book details many Catholic Americans who built an organization that provided material and spiritual aid to people around the world. The history covers the organization’s origins in Connecticut in 1882 and its mission to support Catholics in maintaining their distinctiveness (particularly immigrant Catholics) while also being good American citizens. While the Knights are an all-male organization, it is notable that women barely appear outside of sections on abortion, given that they were significant recipients of the organization’s broad-reaching social programs. Overall, though, this well-designed history will be informative to any reader interested in the Knights of Columbus. (Mar.)