The book discusses the Book of Hours, unquestionably the most intimate and most widely used book of the later Middle Ages, examining surviving copies of the personal prayer books which were used for private, domestic devotions. These books offer clues to the private thoughts and public contexts of their owners, and insight into the times in which they lived and prayed. The volumes are placed in the context of religious and social change, above all the Reformation, the author discussing their significance to Catholics and Protestants.