Book excerpt: This reissue of J. D. C. Fisher's classic work introduces the reader to primary sources that led the author to the theory of disintegration of the primitive rite of initiation. His material is covered geographically according to liturgical areas: Rome from John the Deacon and the Gelasian Sacramentary to the twelfth century; Milan and Northern Italy from Ambrose to the Ordo of Beroldus; Gaul and Germany from the seventh to the twelfth century; Spain from Isidore of Seville to the Mozarabic Liber Ordinum. Book jacket.