Here, historian Craig Harline examines Sunday from its ancient beginnings to recent America in a fascinating blend of facts and anecdotes. For early Christians, the first day of the week was a time to celebrate the liturgy and observe the Resurrection. But over time, Sunday in the Western world took on still other meanings and rituals, especially in the addition of both rest and recreation to the day's activities. Harline illuminates these changes in enlightening profiles of Sunday in medieval Catholic England, Sunday in Reformation and Sunday in nineteenth century France home of the most envied and sometimes despised Sunday of the modern world. He continues with moving portraits of soldier and civilians observing Sunday during World War I, examines the quiet Sunday of England in the 1930 s, and concludes with the convergence of Various European traditions in the American Sunday, which also adds some distinctly original habits of its own, including those in the realms of commerce and professional sports.