The standard history of the Order in English is Joachim Smet, The Carmelites, 4 vols. in 5, Darien, IL: Carmelite Spiritual Center, 1975-1988; a revised ed. of vol. 1 was published in 1988. However, Smet no longer follows the history of the Discalced Carmelites after their separation from the parent order in 1593, for which it is necessary to refer to Peter-Thomas Rohrbach, Journey to Carith: The Story of the Carmelite Order, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1966 (reprinted Washington, ICS, 2001); however, it is not always entirely reliable and for the early period has been entirely superseded by subsequent research).

Gabriel Barry, Historical Notes on the Carmelite Order from its Beginnings until the Death of St. Teresa of Avila, Darlington: Darlington Carmel, [1980?] is a good brief introductory history for the early period, popular in approach but attentive to the critical problems of the sources. There are many accounts of the turbulent period of the Discalced Reform, some still marked by polemical positions.