Author Guide · Mysticism & Spirituality
Books Written by
In 1921 Evelyn Underhill stood up at Manchester College, Oxford, to give the Upton Lectures, the first woman to speak in the series. She had no theology degree. She was a barrister’s daughter from Wolverhampton who had written three novels, then, in 1911, a long study called Mysticism that reached a revised twelfth edition by 1930. Later she led retreats, gave talks on the BBC and wrote for ordinary churchgoers about prayer. The Church of England and the Episcopal Church now remember her every 15 June. This guide covers her 11 key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 11 key books · 1904–1940 · Updated October 2026
ClickTap a spine to jump to that book below.
Quick answer
Evelyn Underhill’s best-known book is Mysticism (1911), a comparative study of mystical experience. Her other key titles are The Mystic Way (1913), Practical Mysticism (1914) and Worship (1936); before them she wrote three novels, from The Grey World (1904) to The Column of Dust (1909). Start with Practical Mysticism, the short companion to Mysticism, then decide whether you want the long version.
Where to Start with Evelyn Underhill
If you want a short way in
→ Practical Mysticism (1914) — her own brief introduction to the subject.
If you want her defining book
→ Mysticism (1911) — the 1911 study that made her name.
If you want her writing on prayer and the Church
→ Worship (1936) — her last major work.
If you want her fiction
→ The Column of Dust (1909) — a bookshop assistant, an old ritual and a spirit.
11 Evelyn Underhill Books, in Order
The Grey World
Underhill’s first novel, published when she was in her late twenties. Its theme is the one she would spend her life on: that poets and mystics answer to an eternal, divine Beauty behind ordinary life. Some American editions spell the title The Gray World.
The Lost Word
Her second novel, published in 1907, the year she married the lawyer Hubert Stuart Moore. Like the other two, it uses fiction to explore mystical experience. A recent academic study suggests the novels may startle readers into revaluing her.
The Column of Dust
Constance Tyrrel, poor, well read and bored with her job in a bookshop, tries a ritual from an old book. A disembodied spirit that wants to know the physical world answers her summons and appears as a column of dust, and the two learn from each other. It was her last novel; afterwards she gave up fiction for the study of mysticism.
Mysticism
A large comparative study of mystical experience, written for general readers rather than scholars and strong on psychology. The first part defines mysticism and separates it from magic; the second follows the mystic’s development stage by stage, using writers from many centuries. She revised it for a twelfth edition in 1930, by which time she paid more attention to the differences between Christian and non-Christian experience.
The Mystic Way
Underhill reads the origins of Christianity through the lens of her earlier book. It sets out what distinguishes Christian mysticism from the Greek mysticism that came before it.
Practical Mysticism
A short introduction written as a companion to Mysticism, for readers who want the idea without the full scholarly apparatus. It explains in plain terms what contemplation is and why it matters to people outside the cloister. It was published in 1914, the year the First World War began.
The Life of the Spirit and the Life of Today
The book of her 1921 Upton Lectures at Manchester College, Oxford, where she was the first woman to lecture in the series. It brings her study of the mystics to bear on modern life. It appeared the same year she began spiritual direction with the Catholic scholar Baron Friedrich von Hügel.
The School of Charity
A short book of meditations from her later, more explicitly Anglican years, written for ordinary believers rather than students of mysticism. It contains one of her most quoted lines, that the final test of holiness is not seeming very different from other people.
Worship
Her last major work, a study of how people worship, centred on the practice of prayer and on the Eucharist. Where Mysticism was about individual experience, Worship is about the shared life of a church.
The Spiritual Life
Talks she gave on BBC radio in 1936, published as a small book the following year. It is the most compact statement of her later teaching on prayer, written to be heard by people with no background in the subject.
Abba
Meditations on the Lord’s Prayer, phrase by phrase, published during the Second World War, the year before her death in 1941.
In What Order to Read Evelyn Underhill
Her books fall into three groups: the three novels (1904–1909), the studies of mysticism that made her reputation (1911–1921), and the shorter books on prayer and worship from her later Anglican years (1920s–1940). None depends on another, so you can read by interest rather than in order.
Most readers start with Practical Mysticism or The Spiritual Life, both short, and move to Mysticism if they want the full argument and the sources. Read the novels last, as a look at how her ideas first took shape in fiction.
A reading path
1. Practical Mysticism (1914)
2. The Spiritual Life (1937)
3. Mysticism (1911)
4. The School of Charity (1934)
5. Worship (1936)
Everything Else Evelyn Underhill Published
Beyond the 11 key books: 15 more, grouped by kind.
Open a group with the + to see every book in it.
Poetry and early books
4
4 books · 1902–1916
- 1902A Bar-Lamb’s Ballad Booklight verse, her first book
- 1912The Spiral Waypublished under the pseudonym John Cordelier
- 1912Immanencea book of verses
- 1916Theophaniesa book of verses
Studies of mysticism
4
4 books · 1915–1925
- 1915Mysticism and Wara wartime essay
- 1919Jacopone da Todia study of the medieval Italian Franciscan poet
- 1920The Essentials of Mysticismessays
- 1925Mystics of the Churcha history of Christian mystics
Later writing on the spiritual life
6
6 books · 1926–1938
- 1926Concerning the Inner Lifeon prayer
- 1927Man and the Supernaturalon the relation between people and God
- 1929The House of the Soulon the life of prayer
- 1932The Golden Sequenceon the spiritual life
- 1933Mixed Pastureessays
- 1938The Mystery of Sacrificeon the Eucharist
Published after her death
1
1 book · 1943
- 1943The Letters of Evelyn Underhilledited by Charles Williams
The years · 1875–1941
Quick facts about Evelyn Underhill
- Known for
- Evelyn Underhill is known for making the history and practice of mysticism readable for general readers, and for her later work as one of the first laywomen to lead retreats in the Church of England.
- 1875
- Born in Wolverhampton
- 1907
- Marries Hubert Stuart Moore
- 1911
- Mysticism
- 1921
- Upton Lectures at Oxford, the first woman in the series
- 1936
- Worship
- 1941
- Dies in Hampstead, London
- Born
- 6 December 1875, Wolverhampton; daughter of the barrister Arthur Underhill
- Died
- 15 June 1941, Hampstead, London
- Education
- Sandgate House, Folkestone, then King’s College, London
- Married
- Hubert Stuart Moore, a lawyer, in 1907
- Honours
- Fellow of King’s College London (1927); honorary Doctor of Divinity, University of Aberdeen
- Commemorated
- 15 June, in the Church of England and the Episcopal Church
The red mark is 1911: Mysticism, the study that made her name.
How Evelyn Underhill Writes: The Mystics for Ordinary Readers
Underhill came to mysticism as a reader and a novelist, not a trained theologian, and she wrote for people like herself. Mysticism gathers writers from many centuries and traditions, compares them, and treats their experience psychologically: what happens to a person, in what order. Its second half maps that development in stages, from the first awakening of the self to what the mystics call union.
Her views moved over thirty years. Early editions of Mysticism treated Christianity mainly as one good setting for mystical experience; by the revised twelfth edition of 1930, after years of spiritual direction from Baron Friedrich von Hügel and others, she wrote with more attention to what was distinctively Christian. The later books narrow from the history of mystics to the practice of prayer and the shared worship of the Anglican Church.
From the 1920s much of her writing began as spoken words: retreat addresses at Pleshey in Essex, the Upton Lectures at Oxford, talks on BBC radio. That shows in the prose of the later books, which is short, direct and full of plain examples. For a later writer on the inner life in the same plain register, see the guide to the Trappist monk Thomas Merton.
Frequently asked questions about Evelyn Underhill’s books
How many books has Evelyn Underhill written?
She published about 25 books in her lifetime: three novels, poetry and many books on mysticism and prayer. Eleven are the key books on this page, from The Grey World (1904) to Abba (1940); her letters, edited by Charles Williams, followed in 1943.
What are Evelyn Underhill’s books in order?
The key books are The Grey World (1904), The Lost Word (1907), The Column of Dust (1909), Mysticism (1911), The Mystic Way (1913), Practical Mysticism (1914), The Life of the Spirit and the Life of Today (1921), The School of Charity (1934), Worship (1936), The Spiritual Life (1937) and Abba (1940).
Where should I start with Evelyn Underhill?
With Practical Mysticism (1914), the short companion she wrote to Mysticism. The Spiritual Life (1937), from her BBC talks, is just as short and covers her later teaching on prayer.
What is Evelyn Underhill’s most famous book?
Mysticism (1911), a comparative study of mystical experience for general readers. She revised it for a twelfth edition in 1930.
Did Evelyn Underhill write novels?
Yes, three, before she turned to non-fiction: The Grey World (1904), The Lost Word (1907) and The Column of Dust (1909). All three explore mystical experience; in the last, a bookshop assistant summons a spirit that appears to her as a column of dust.
What is the difference between magic and mysticism, according to Underhill?
In Mysticism she puts it in one line: “magic wants to get, mysticism wants to give.” Magic, in her account, tries to gain power over the unseen; mysticism seeks union with it.
Was Evelyn Underhill an Anglican?
Yes. She was confirmed in the Church of England in 1892, and her later work moved steadily back towards the Anglican faith. Her spiritual director from 1921 until his death in 1925 was the Catholic scholar Baron Friedrich von Hügel. She became one of the first laywomen to lead retreats in the Church of England.
Was Evelyn Underhill involved in the Golden Dawn?
For a time, yes. As a young woman she was associated with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, under the influence of the writer Arthur Waite, before her interest moved to Christian mysticism.
Was Evelyn Underhill a pacifist?
Yes, in her later years. She remained committed to Christian pacifism during the Second World War and led a prayer group. During the First World War she had written Mysticism and War (1915).
When is Evelyn Underhill’s feast day?
15 June, the day she died in 1941. She is commemorated on that day in the Church of England and the Episcopal Church.
Footnotes
- Evelyn Underhill — World Religions and Spirituality Project (Kathleen Henderson Staudt)
- Underhill, Evelyn — Encyclopedia.com
- Evelyn Underhill — EBSCO Research Starters
- Evelyn Underhill as Novelist: Exploring Mysticism — Cambridge University Press
- The Column of Dust — LibriVox
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“The fundamental difference between the two is this: magic wants to get, mysticism wants to give.”
— Evelyn Underhill, Mysticism (1911)
If this shelf interested you, the full bookshelf has more: reading lists by theme, author guides, and notes on what is actually worth your time.
Browse the full bookshelf Get book recommendations