This excellent monograph focuses on the reception of academic theology and vernacular literature by examining the ways in which the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is dealt with in Middle High German literature. The first part of the book provides a detailed survey of the development of the doctrine, and of the associated controversies, up to the Council of Basle (convoked in 1431). This is an impressive piece of intellectual history in itself, clearly setting out the conflict between those who wished to accord the greatest possible honour to Mary and those who objected to a doctrine which appeared to limit the impact of Christ's sacrifice (i.e. if Mary was always free from original sin, she would not have benefitted from the Redemption). However, the book becomes even more exciting in the second (and longer) part, when the author turns to vernacular writing, drawing out the sheer range of texts which engage with this doctrine in some way: Lives of Mary (notably by Walther von Rheinau, Bruder Philipp, Wernher der Schweizer and Heinrich von St Gallen), German versions of the Legenda aurea, sermons, allegorical narrative (Heinrich von Neustadt), didactic verse (Heinrich der Teichner), exegetical writing (Heinrich von St Gallen on the Magnificat) and theological treatises (Marquard von Lindau). The authors examined range from prominent theologians using Latin and German in parallel (for example the Franciscan Marquard von Lindau), to laymen writing for worldly audiences and only in German. The discussion of each of the German authors is engaging on its own terms, but it is the overarching contextual framework which constitutes the real contribution to the subject area. The book is based on the author's prize-winning doctoral dissertation.