C. Scott Littleton (1933–2010)

It's impossible to fit every myth from every part of the world into one book, but the editors did an admirable job in collecting various myths and organizing them in this book. The myths are concise and the book is easy to read due to its excellent organization and its lovely pictures. For anyone wishing to learn about world mythology or just one country's tales, this is a wonderful introduction. This book has a treasured place on my bookshelf, and for good reason.

An extensive, but definitely not intensive illustrated anthology of World mythology, this is a good, basic introduction, although if you want or require details, this might not necessarily be the book for you. For me personally, although I found the information presented interesting, I also found the sections rather frustrating, as there was never enough detail presented to satisfy me (I would have gladly sacrificed some of the many illustrations, photographs etc. for more historical show more information, for more in-depth analysis and explanation). I do believe that for those readers who just want a very basic introduction to world mythology, Mythology is great reference book to have on hand (although the sheer size of it might also make this book somewhat problematic, as it certainly is not very portable). In my opinion, this book actually begs to be rereleased as a more portable tome, perhaps one containing just the printed information and a maybe a select few of the illustrations. As it stands now, the book is over 600 pages long and seems to weigh a tonne (probably not a tonne, but it sure felt that way when I dropped the book on my poor toes last week). show less

A short, rather superficial look at Shinto. This provides only the barest of introductions, but that makes it a good starting place for someone interested in learning about the religion. It gives the basic overview of what Shinto is, when, where, and how it is practiced, and the role it played in Japanese live during the period that it was the state religion. The author is objective, but presents a mostly positive overview of the religion, other than the excesses of the time when it was tied show more to the state. Not a particularly scholarly work, that makes it accessible to people who don't want to spend a lot of time with jargon, they just want a quick view. show less

Very interesting and readable book about the development and major aspects of Shinto, the indigenous religion of Japan. During this terrible period of the destruction of our planet, the tenets of Shinto, a deeply nature-based religion, strike a chord in me and, doubtless, many other non-Japanese people.