To celebrate the 800th anniversary of the founding of the Franciscan Order, Franciscan scholar and historian Dominic Monti tells us the beautiful and inspirational story of Francis of Assisi and his followers--the Order of Friars Minor, or the Lesser Brothers--from its beginnings to current times. This history emphasizes not only the medieval developments of the world's most beloved band of men but also the internal evolution and mission efforts of the friars during the modern period, from the sixteenth century to the present. Monti gives particular emphasis to the history of the order in the English-speaking world: first England and Ireland and then North America and the twentieth-century expansion of the order to other English-speaking countries. Chapter topics include: medieval Christian society; the First Lesser Brothers; expansion and transformation of the Order; the Franciscan mission; internal crisis in the Order; Observants and Conventuals; friars during the Reformation and Baroque Eras; mission to the world; the challenges of modernity; Franciscans in the United States, Canada and Australia; rebuilding the Order in Europe; and recovering a charism.