Interesting and relevant

As with many of these 'A Very Short Introductions' you will be disappointed if what you are looking for is a basic guide to the subject. OUP's brief seems to be to find people who have interesting things to say about the subject in question and to get them to write about their ideas at a basic level in relation to the subject in hand.<br /><br />Here Helen Morales offers a fascinating insight into classical mythology. She does not offer a potted history of all the myths themselves, although she does offer information about where to get such information. Instead, and much more interestingly to my mind, she walks us through what myths as a genre mean, and what they do for us to make them still relevant for discussion centuries after they were first conceived.<br /><br />She takes broad topics for her chapter headings, such as mythology and its resurgence in the popular beliefs of New Agers, or myth as a vehicle for political machinations. Within that she discusses one or two key myths and shows how they have been used and developed over the centuries.<br /><br />This is well written, easy to read and fun. It really whets the appetite for more research into the subject. It has some good illustrations, although those of mosaics would have been better on a bigger scale, unfortunately not to be, as the books are designed to be pocket sized. There are useful things like time lines, some good charts and a good bibliography. A great tool.

It depends who is buying it!

This book gives the modern man all he needs to know about interaction in society, and how to behave in a civilised manner. However, there is a big ’but’ here. If you are buying this for your husband, partner or boyfiend (what the book refers to as ’your significant other’) then you will have a different view to if you are a man purchasing it for yourself. The well written text gives reasons why we men should not urinate on the toilet seat, pass wind loudly and with mirth in public and not burp loudly. It has a good section on car usage and how to drive without shouting obscenities at your other road users. There are further good sections on behavior in public, meeting and greeting, and the good use of cellular telephone and other communication tools.
The difference is, any man who is employing these techniques as a matter of course will find this book an affirmation, and thus it will not bring any new ideas to the fore. If you do pee on seats, pass wind violently etc then you are hardly likely to be looking for a book on manners - but your significant other may be!

Very well researched and opens the door to many other myster

draws heavily on ancient welsh and irish muse and poetry, graves explains the meaning behind the words and presents proof that the western alphabet was developed in britain in conjunction with the early greeks.

A really rather extraordinary book

... written in the late 17th Century by a Scottish Episcopalian Minister with an apparently sincere belief in the world of the supernatural. At a time when witches were still being condemned, Robert Kirk was collecting the stories of his parishioners and fashioning them into an account of a parallel world of sprites, wraiths, fauns, elves and spirits. The book also includes an excellent introduction by Marina Warner.

Buy from Amazon, not the o2 Exhibition

I bought this book at the o2 Exhibition for £12, as i was under the impression that it was restricted sale, how wrong I was and now £7 poorer. <br /><br />If you've been to the shop at the o2 and gone gulp at the prices, just search for Tutankhamun's shop.

Good illustrations but lacking in detail

Peter Connolly retells two of the most epic stories of mankind, the struggle for Troy and Odysseus way home. The well known stories are illustrated in the superb manner known from Connollys previous books bringing bronze age Greece back to life. All in all the illustrations give a fine picture of what bronze age dress, weaponry and architecture looked like although there are several mistakes concerning the dating of the actual archeological finds the reconstructions are based on.

Thoroughly fascinating

Nowadays the English are starting to wonder about their own culture and roots and Roud's useful and interesting compendium is a good place to start. Not only does it include customs still practised today like Hallaton's Hare Pie and Bottle-Kicking, but also historical events that are often mentioned in song or legend, such as Bartholomew's Fair. It's well written, beautifully illustrated and equally good for dipping into or looking something up. It serves to prove that the English are deep down not the boring, staid, polite folk the world thinks they are.

enthralled

Since being given this book two months ago my 5year old twins can't get enough, they love the stories and the beautiful way each one is illustrated and I get bombarded with questions about how and why for days afterwards. Daddy missed reading two of the chapters the first time round, as he was working late. My son suggested it was only fair that we read the wholebook again so Daddy wouldn't miss out! They will treasure this for years, especially when they later when they can read it for themselves.<br />If the art of story telling and bedtime stories is one you wish to enjoy in your family then I doubt you will regret adding this to your bookshelves, and I hope you enjoy it as much as we are doing.

Surprisingly Informative

This is a really good reference for the very busy professional person who needs a clear presentation of ideas in a very short space. It would function as an excellent primer to Runelore and/or Futhark.

This book gives a really good quick overview of the Northern Way as it exists in its present remanifestation. In Chapter III, Dr. Thorsson explains the similarities and differences between the Troth, Rune-Galdor (operative rune magick), and Seith (norse shamanism) in a clear and concise manner.

Chapters IV and V explain Teutonic Cosmology and Theology in a quick, clear, and concise manner.

Dr. Thorsson does make a run at describing the Teutonic"soul" concept, but this is not as satisfying as the foregoing-described concise summaries.

Dr. Thorsson focuses on the younger runes and some home-grown Pennsylvania Dutch magick in this book, which might be interesting to some.

In my opinion, this book is most valuable for the quick summaries, and illustrations accompanying same, discussed above.

8 of Aesop's Fables re-told in this super book

from the 'Usborne First Reading' series.<br /><br />This particular book is : SERIES TWO.<br /><br />Each story is a chapter:-<br /><br />(1) The tortoise and the hare<br />(2) The thirsty crow<br />(3) The ant and the dove<br />(4) The fox and the stork<br />(5) The mouse's tale<br />(6) The dog and the bone<br />(7) The fox and the crow<br />(8) The lion and the mouse<br /><br />And the above chapters are preceded by an introduction entitled:-<br />`The mystery writer'......<br /><br />From the back cover:- <br /><br />`Foxes, storks and thirsty crows; they're all gathered here in a collection of eight of Aesop's best-loved tales.<br />You may know the story of the tortoise and the hare, but have you heard the one about the lion and the mouse?'<br /><br />64 high quality pages in the popular 2-page spread format. <br />Numbered pages. <br />Beautifully illustrated throughout, this super book is further enhanced by meaningful expressions and some speech bubbles.<br />Complete with bright yellow ribbon bookmark! <br />Clear, easy-to-read text.<br /><br />Example of text:- <br />From `The tortoise and the hare`:-<br /><br />`One day, the hare was boasting about how amazingly fast he could run. His friends just yawned.<br />They'd heard it all before.<br />The hare started to pick on the old tortoise.<br />"You're so slow, I'm surprised you ever get anywhere," he teased.<br />"I may be slow," replied the tortoise,"but, I bet I can reach the end of this field before you......'<br /><br />And the hare wallows in the challenge, as the two set off at the badger's call.......but who wins?<br />What is the moral?<br /><br />Super book!<br />Re-told by Carol Watson<br />Adapted by Katie Daynes<br />Illustrated by Nick Price

An extraordinary journey........

This has to probably be one of the most researched and"down to earth" books on dowsing and the Michael Line since Alfred Watkins.

It very quickly becomes obvious that the authors are not of the whimsical New Age genre. They have taken their journey into the unknown of earth energies with such a meticulous attitude towards proving their discoveries, that even the most hardened scientist could be tempted into this very different world.

It's main strength seems to be an excellent balance between spiritual matters and empirical fact.......a rare combination.

Because it does not pander to extremes of belief, it calls the reader to journey, step by step, with the authors, until the final amazing destination is reached.

Whatever your views on dowsing, this is a"must read".

Spiritual and physical together as they should always be.

I read this book because it was a source of inspiration for the brilliant Canadian trio The Tea Party when writing their amazing second album 'the edges of twilight'. The book provides fascinating insights into the worlds inhabited by the Shaman since the dawn of time and how shamanic ideology is woven into celtic culture. The Shaman is a truly mystical being whose forays into the spiritual realm gives him/her a profound understanding of the cyclical and many-layered nature of existence. The physical realm which we inhabit is but one part of the true universe and few of us ever transcend the purely physical before we make the transition into the purely spiritual. The Shaman's role is that of a traveller into the Otherworld, an explorer who uses the knowledge gained in the spiritual realm to help those who remain steadfastly in the physical world. The ambivalence of celtic thinking is elucidated by the Shaman's journeys into the Otherworld or 'nonordinary reality'. The understanding of the harmonious, interconnected nature of existence provides an explanation for the vacillations of life that 'modern' dualism cannot. Suddenly, life and death are intimately linked, the spiritual and physical worlds exist within each other, and the wise fool is a real person. The further you read, the further the doors of your perception widen - this work is truly enlightening...

English folklore brought to the 21st century

This book is so interesting and is a must to discover where all of those superstitions, beliefs, traditions and sayings came from!

I originally loaned this book out of my local library for research purposes and I read every item listed. It is so interesting and makes you realise how much you are affected by folklore, the little things you say, the superstitions you believe in, it goes on!

Folklore surrounds us and is in our everyday life, whether it is me or somebody else and once you are aware of this you mentally take note. Like how many of us believe in Friday the 13th?

The book is extremely informative and I would imagine this must be a hard subject to research, folklore being as it is! The book focuses on English folklore which makes it more personal for the English enquirer and it is interesting to see places in the book that you know or have visited and had no idea of the history of folklore attached to them. Although I am using this book for a project, it inevitably became of personal use also, I found myself searching for things like"touch wood" something that I've said, and the meaning is there in the book, and very informative with further links, so you find yourself totally engrossed.

As the book is a dictionary it is easy to find what you are looking for, but I read it like a book so discovered many things I knew nothing about. There are entries from Ram Roasting to toothache and from Devil's Dyke to Valentines Day! Subjects to interest everybody. However, due to the reservations made for the book at the library, I have now purchased it through Amazon at a very good price which I think is worth every penny. It is a good reference book and I know I will be checking in this book every now and again when something inspires me to do so, like maybe I want to know why the Morris Dancers are hanging around outside!

I also have the Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales by Jack Zipes (research again honest!)which I think is part of a collection in this style of subject matter, and compliments Folklore well. This book too is very informative although I would say much more in depth as the information is from all of the world covering authors, fairy tales and more!

Like I said The Oxford Dictionay of English Folklore is a book that will keep you amused for hours!

thin but fully packed!

Allthough it does't have any kind of contents or index and appears jumbled it is still easy to use - the whole lot is arranged alphabetically into paragraphs.

Contains old remedies and folklore, lots of oddities like"To point at a daffodil may prevent its blooming."! but sadly doesn't have references :/ .

The end of time

Very little of this book is actually about the Mayan prophecies. It is really a history of the Mayans interspersed with details regarding other civilisations, which makes for disjointed and confusing reading. A lot of the theories expressed in this book are really quite fanciful and seem to be based on the flimsiest of circumstantial evidence. The book is entitled 'The End of Time' all I wanted to do was get to the end of the book so I could find a decent book to read.