This volume serves as the foundational liturgical text for the Church of England, providing the standardized prayers, rites, and services used in Anglican worship. Oxford University Press, as a long-standing publisher of religious texts, presents this edition to preserve the traditional language and structure of the Anglican liturgy. The book functions as both a devotional guide for the individual and a formal manual for ecclesiastical practice, documenting the evolution of church rites over centuries.

Scholars and clergy recognize this edition as a standard reference for the traditional Anglican liturgy. Readers frequently note the formal, archaic prose style which remains central to the identity of the Church of England.