The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion: A New Abridgement from the Second and Third Editions (Oxford World's Classics)

A wide-ranging, comparative study of mythology and religion, first published as two volumes in 1890. It was aimed at a broadly literate audience raised on tales The Age of Fable, or Stories of Gods and Heroes, and offered a modernist approach to religion, treating it as a cultural phenomenon rather than discussing it from a theological perspective. Restored to the full, unabridged version for the first time, this seminal work of anthropology is a study on the beliefs and institutions of mankind, and the progress through magic and religion to scientific thought. It is a very important and influential work of anthropology. Description based on print version record.