The alacrity of the Society of Jesus's sixteenth-century global expansion has inspired a boom in scholarly investigation over the past twenty years. Fittingly, these works have often sought to understand the Society's remarkable growth by uncovering factors that aided its expansion, yet Spain, the home country of founder Ignatius of Loyola, only allowed the Jesuits to operate within its borders from 1540 to 1767, a relatively brief time. Patricia W. Manning's extended essay, An Overview of the Pre-Suppression Society of Jesus in Spain, is a much-needed examination of the order's interactions with various Spanish social institutions during these years that traces the origins and development of the tensions that contributed to its expulsion. The strength of this work lies in Manning's ability to analyze Jesuit activity in various social sectors while at the same time making relevant connections between them, thus introducing readers to the major events of Jesuit history in Spain while also imparting an idea of how the Society was perceived by others in its everyday business.

Loyola's life story allows Manning to take up several key threads immediately, including the Jesuits’ reluctance to participate in or submit to the Spanish Inquisition, the Inquisition's skepticism of the orthodoxy of Jesuit meditative practices, and its suspicion of the Society's relationship to pious women seeking spiritual direction. She adds to these threads by frequently recounting women's contributions to the Society. In addition to a thorough treatment of the influential Juana de Austria and Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza, Manning notes the benefits and drawbacks experienced by both Jesuit spiritual directors and the women in their care. Alongside these concerns, the essay makes plain that the Jesuits’ position in Spanish society also depended upon its ability to coexist peacefully with other Catholic orders and with the Spanish monarchy, interactions that were often problematic due to debates on theological positions, the Society's early inclusion and support of conversos (members of dubious or recent Christian lineage), and the effects of its unique vow of papal obedience. Manning enriches these major threads by describing various communities’ receptions of Jesuit ministries, such as preaching, evangelism, and teaching. Although presumably beneficial, this essay reveals that these ministries could be accompanied by significant drawbacks that damaged the Society's reputation, especially in times of economic and political crises.

Manning's essay shines for its ability to bring together research on varied aspects of the Society of Jesus's activity in order to approximate the lived experience of Jesuit leaders and those in their orbit. This is accomplished by attending to events through the lens of Jesuit relations with social institutions. Thus, there are chapters titled “Aiding Catholics under Siege,” “Jesuit Celebrations,” and “Domestic Life in the Society.” While largely chronological, the essay privileges the complicated connections between institutions and events that are typical of everyday life. For example, there is a useful chapter dedicated to the topic of religious women, but Manning also takes care to relate women's roles in other matters as they arise, including encounters with the Inquisition, penitential practices, courtly power struggles, and evangelism.

Additionally, Manning consistently incorporates circulation records of printed and manuscript texts that commented upon Jesuit happenings and controversies, information that contextualizes these events against the background of lived experience. Such contextualization is especially salient in her treatment of theological debates between the Jesuits, Franciscans, and Dominicans concerning probabilism, the immaculate conception, and the roles of free will versus grace in Christian salvation. Furthermore, the essay sheds light on public opinion of Jesuit activity by examining relevant records of material products, such as engravings, paintings, church decorations, and household inventories.

Manning's work merits attention from scholars at all levels of study interested in the Society of Jesus in Spain. For those new to the field, it includes a glossary of commonly used terms and applicable English equivalents, as well as a comprehensive bibliography. Her panoramic view of Jesuit activity across multiple social sectors is sure to appeal to experts in the discipline as well since she attends to major events and personages while illuminating the Jesuits’ presence in the popular imagination throughout the essay.