This book is a collection of sample liturgies from across the history of the Western church. Every section starts with an introduction to the historical context (as well as context within the tradition) of the particular liturgy, and also comparison to other works by the same author, and also some discussion of scholars on the liturgy. For instance, on the Mass, there is some historical discussion of how the Mass came about, how it is to be celebrated, some of the 'evolution' of the mass, what it means. If one is confused about what is going in worship, this can be a helpful guide. It gives sample principal liturgies and fairly good analysis on "what is going on" and "why/how this developed". The author, Bard Thompson, was the Dean of the Graduate School at Drew University until his death in 1987.

I used this book for a Master's level History of Christian Worship course at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. I found it interesting to follow in terms of various traditions of worship, and fascinating to follow.

The various liturgies include: the First Apology of Justin Martyr, the apostolic tradition of Hippolytus, the Low Mass (of Roman Catholicism), Martin Luther's "Formula Missae and Deutschemesse", Zwingli's Zurich Liturgy, Bucer's Strassburg Liturgy, Calvin's Form of Church Prayers, First and Second Prayer Books of King Edward VI (i.e., some of the Book of Common Prayer), John Knox's "Forme of PRayers", the Middleburg Liturgy of the English Puritans, the Westminster Directory, Richard Baxter's "Savoy Liturgy", and John Wesley's "Sunday Service."

Thompson gives good translations (E.g., the Mass is both presented side-by-side in latin and English) and draws upon copies of many original documents to insure accuracy. There's lots of bibliographical information (e.g., "for further reading") in addition, for those who want to do further research.

This book is mainly a collection of texts with short introductions. And what you get is a sampler of Eucharist service from several of the major Christian denominations. You get a copy of the Tridentine Mass, Luther's DeutschMesse (in english translation of course) and the Eucharist from the first Book of Common Prayer. Also several other Protestant Eucharistic liturgies. The emphasis is less on telling you about comparative liturgy and more on letting you compare.

I have been reading sections of this book for a class in Church History that I am co-teaching this semester, and I love it. Thompson does an inspiring job at making each individual a "real person" for the reader, which is often hard to find in history texts. Also, his in-depth and thorough look at both movements and people never becomes pedantic or tiresome, but rather creates a greater context into which these elements truly make sense. His writing is reachable, clear, humorous - friendly to the casual and professional student of the Reformation. Highly recommended!