World Mythology: The Illustrated Guide

First, its strong points:The prose was intelligent, the rich images of ancient artwork on every page added a great deal of context to the myths, and coverage of the subject matter was very comprehensive as a whole. I was impressed with the quality of the book itself. The pages were thick, high quality paper (almost like card-stock) and the full color images were beautiful. It was a pleasure to hold and read.Second, its weak points:In the sections on several cultures, the stories were summarized so much that at times I had trouble following them. In the myths I as familiar with from previous study, I realized part of the problem was that key details were skipped over in the telling that would have made future details (which were included) have made more sense. While the slangy tone of Mythology for Dummies was aggravating, it did a better job than this book of telling the individual stories it covered. That having been said-- this book covered much more ground than Mythology for Dummies, which was concerned largely with Greek Mythology (it dedicated half its pages to this culture alone). This book covered the mythology from many more world regions, which is doubtless why the author gave fewer details.

I had this book for a comparative mythology course. It was one of the three assigned books and i can't think how else would have that worked. This book is more like an encyclopedia containing only brief information about various world mythologies. It contains abridged versions of mythological stories and its characters. In my opinion, this book cannot work as stand alone for an analytical study of world mythologies. However, it is a good reference book. I like how each mythology is explained with maps, timelines, and pictures.

It’s a good book, was for a class

This book arrived quickly and is in great condition. It is very good quality, the pages are very thick and the font is easy to read.

Great detail and citation. Love the work and writing. Page thickness is large which I love, However at times the font seems too small and hurts the eyes.

If you read the description, what you expect is what you get. Mine is fine. Its not brand new but it doesnt have damage, just a little writing.

EXACTLY AS ADVERTISED. this book gives great stories for many different eras and explains why they are important to literature and tells you that most myths have similar concepts to their stories.

I bought this book for a class that I had over the summer. I now keep it on my coffee table and when people stop by, they automatically pick it up. Very good for some light reading on the side and very knowledgeable.