The church historian and Benedictine monk Cuthbert Butler (1858–1934) was known for his expertise on the monastic life and wrote several books on the subject, including Benedictine Monachism (1919) and Western Mysticism (1922). Previously he had produced this two-volume edition of Palladius of Galatia's Lausiac History. Written in the early fifth century, it records the lives of the Egyptian 'Desert Fathers' and is an important source for early monasticism. In these two volumes, published between 1898 and 1904, Butler first provides a detailed introduction to the various surviving versions of Palladius' work, together with a historical discussion of Palladius' theology and the history of early Egyptian monasticism. This is followed in the second volume by the edited Greek text, supported by detailed critical notes and appendices, including a chronology of Palladius' life and a list of possible sources for the work.