Jürgen Bärsch provides a compact overview of the major stages and developments of liturgical life in his history of Christian liturgy. He also conveys the cultural and historical influences on the liturgy and through the liturgy in all its facets. In short, manageable chapters, he illustrates the numerous and sometimes significant changes in worship throughout the history of Christianity. The concrete form of the liturgical celebration has changed many times and profoundly, influenced by interactions with ecclesiastical and societal upheavals and by shifts in culture and mentality.