"...a learned analysis....Silber's book should quickly become a classic in comparative religious research and deserves a place on the syllabus of any graduate course in the field." Sociology of Religion

• Part I. Virtuosi and Society: Elements of Macrosociological Approach: 1. The Weberian legacy; 2. Monasticism and social order: a multidimensional perspective: Part II. Virtuosi asnd Society in Theravada Buddhism: 3. Ideological groundings: hierarchy and ritualized exchange; 4. Virtuosity institutionalized; The Sangha in Social Context; 5. Virtuoso radicalism: the triumph of a syndrome; Part III. Virtuosi and Society in Medieval Catholicism: 6. Ideological groundings: plurality and conditional exchange; 7. Virtuosity institutionalized: monasticism in social context; 8. Virtuoso radicalism: a self-defeating triumph; Part IV. Virtuosity, Charisma and Social Order: 9. Virtuosity and the virtuoso-society syndrome; 10. The virtuoso syndrome in comparative historical perspective; Conclusion.