Liturgy tradition and history in books

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I am a budding liturgist, and have a great desire to learn as much as I can about the Catholic liturgy, especially the Mass.
I have already compiled a small set of books, but am curious what others are out there and are good? Of course I can go to Amazon or some other site, and just type it in, but I better trust the opinions from posters here on the value and correctness of the books that I should read, as opposed to those that may be too ‘fluffy.’ I am especially interested in books that may discuss the tradition, history and reason for the different aspects of our liturgy.

Thank you in advance for any and all help given!
 
The Missals.

I also think exposing yourself to some of the main “fluffy”/nonsense/obsessive-rupturist material is actually good for research’s and your own sake. Just handle it with a biohazard suit, I guess.
 
I’m assuming you already know about Alcuin Reid’s Organic Development of the Liturgy. It is pretty famous, in part because of its forward by then Cardinal Ratzinger.
 
Here are some you could consider ordering.
“A Biblical Walk Through the Mass,” by Edward Sri
“The Lamb,'s Supper; The Mass as Heaven on Earth,” by Scott Hahn
“Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist,” by Brant Pitre
“The Sacred Liturgy” (Mediator Dei), encyclical by Pope Pius XII.
Code: 
And the thick, scholarly volume for serious students (which I much admire), "Theological Dimensions of the Liturgy," by Cyprian Vagaggini
You might consider getting a good daily missal (if you don’t have one already.) I purchased and much admire the “Daily Roman Missal, Complete with Readings in One Volume,” by James Socias, put out by the Midwest Theological Forum, which I purchased on amazon.com

For myself, I typically check out books listed on one thread or another of these forums by going to amazon,com, and by seeing what people who read the books cited actually think of them, before deciding whether to purchase some of them or not.
 
Here are some you could consider ordering.
“A Biblical Walk Through the Mass,” by Edward Sri
“The Lamb,'s Supper; The Mass as Heaven on Earth,” by Scott Hahn
“Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist,” by Brant Pitre
“The Sacred Liturgy” (Mediator Dei), encyclical by Pope Pius XII.
Code: 
And the thick, scholarly volume for serious students (which I much admire), "Theological Dimensions of the Liturgy," by Cyprian Vagaggini
You might consider getting a good daily missal (if you don’t have one already.) I purchased and much admire the “Daily Roman Missal, Complete with Readings in One Volume,” put out by the Midwest Theological Forum

For myself, I typically check out books listed on one thread or another of these forums by going to amazon,com, and by seeing what people who read the books cited actually think of them, before deciding whether to purchase some of them or not.
 
Regarding the history of the development of liturgy, there are four “classics” that are considered must-reads for all scholars of the Roman rite:
  1. The Mass: A Study in the Roman Liturgy by Adrian Fortescue (this one has a complicated history; Fortescue himself updated it in 1919, and then J.B. O’Connell updated it eleven more times up to 1962; finally Alcuin Reid updated it in 2003 and 2009, which leaves it at its 15th edition. Considering that there were a number of liturgical changes in the 20th century before Vatican II, I would recommend choosing which edition you want based on which years you are most focused on)
  2. The Organic Development of the Liturgy (currently 2nd ed.) by Alcuin Reid, OSB
  3. The Mass of the Roman Rite: Its Origins and Development (I believe 3rd. ed? as of right now, it was revised/reprinted in 2012) by Joseph A. Jungmann, S.J. (originally in German, but the Brunner translation is considered quite good)
  4. The Celebration of Mass (currently 4th ed.) by J.B. O’Connell
Although there have been some important historical discoveries and theories in the past few decades, I think you could probably comfortably sit in and understand a Ph.D.-level university class on liturgy if you’ve read the above four books and have a working knowledge of Latin.
 
Great suggestions so far. One of my favorites is “The Liturgical Altar” by Geoffrey Webb.

Its available from Angelus Press. Originally available from Newman Press !949.

Gives you a different look at the Altar and its history.
 
EphelDuath said:
Regarding the history of the development of liturgy, there are four “classics” that are considered must-reads for all scholars of the Roman rite:

EDIT, because I listed the wrong title:
  1. The Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described by Adrian Fortescue (this one has a complicated history; Fortescue himself updated it in 1919, and then J.B. O’Connell updated it eleven more times up to 1962; finally Alcuin Reid updated it in 2003 and 2009, which leaves it at its 15th edition. Considering that there were a number of liturgical changes in the 20th century before Vatican II, I would recommend choosing which edition you want based on which years you are most focused on)
  2. The Organic Development of the Liturgy (currently 2nd ed.) by Alcuin Reid, OSB
  3. The Mass of the Roman Rite: Its Origins and Development (I believe 3rd. ed? as of right now, it was revised/reprinted in 2012) by Joseph A. Jungmann, S.J. (originally in German, but the Brunner translation is considered quite good)
  4. The Celebration of Mass (currently 4th ed.) by J.B. O’Connell
Although there have been some important historical discoveries and theories in the past few decades, I think you could probably comfortably sit in and understand a Ph.D.-level university class on liturgy if you’ve read the above four books and have a working knowledge of Latin.
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