This substantial volume examines the impact of the Lutheran Reformation on the material culture and ritual use of places of worship. It is based on a study of 1,730 medieval churches in villages across present-day Denmark. Such a considerable task has been accomplished through site visits as well as by using the Danmarks Kirker (<http://danmarkskirker.natmus.dk>), which has been publishing church histories since 1933. Drawing on a wealth of Danish scholarship, this major study has four key research questions. First, Jürgensen examines the appearance of late medieval village churches around 1450 and secondly, how they had changed by about 1600. The book is also concerned with the ritual use of churches, before finally considering the perception of places of worship and how they were regarded by their users. The first section begins with seventeen colour plates and discusses the material culture of worship. These plates map the distribution of pre-1600 churches, buildings with similar architectural features, or furnishings such as altarpieces from 1400 to about 1650; pre-1600 baptismal fonts; pulpits installed before 1650, etc. Colour coding provides a further breakdown of this data by date, material etc. The subsequent chapters methodically survey the buildings, wall paintings and church furniture, focusing on the late medieval period and the impact of the official introduction of Lutheran worship in 1536. There is much here which illustrates the survival of late medieval Catholic decoration and furnishings. Looking at mural paintings, for example, medieval schemes largely escaped whitewashing until the eighteenth century; some were even refreshed or repainted. There are sixty post-Reformation murals, although few from after 1600. An antipapal scheme at Brøns dates from the 1520s (regrettably not illustrated), but such anti-Catholic themes were rare. Generally, the subject matter continued pre-Reformation imagery: Christ's Passion and the Last Judgment were popular and in smaller numbers depictions of the Old Testament Prophets and the four Evangelists. Jürgensen returns to the subject of wall paintings in the second part of the book which provides a thematic discussion of church buildings and how they were regarded and functioned. The latter includes a detailed assessment and plans showing how ministers and worshippers occupied and moved around the church interior during specific rites and ceremonies. Murals are examined as part of the decorative schemes of late medieval churches, focusing on how these were viewed as well as their association with other liturgical furnishings. Although Lutheran reformers were in principle critical of religious imagery, generally they did not systematically purge these church interiors. By stripping images of their sacred associations, they were regarded with indifference by the Danish authorities, but where this failed action was taken against idolatrous activities. This provides just a brief glimpse into what is an important and rich assessment of the interaction of ritual and art in Danish churches before and after the Lutheran Reformation.