The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion

One of the most influential works ever written on mythology and religion.

James George Frazer's monumental study transformed the modern understanding of myth, ritual, and belief, and helped establish anthropology as a serious scientific discipline. Drawing on traditions from Europe, the Near East, Africa, Asia, and the Americas, Frazer explores magic, sacred kingship, fertility rites, taboos, and the origins of religious thought across human cultures.

This one-volume abridged edition makes the vast scope of the original work accessible to modern readers while preserving the power and intellectual ambition that made it a landmark of comparative religion and anthropology.

Few books have exercised such a profound influence on modern literature and thought. Its ideas shaped the work of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, James Joyce, T. S. Eliot, Robert Graves and Joseph Campbell, and continue to inform the study of mythology, folklore, and cultural history.

Both a pioneering scientific study and a work of extraordinary imagination, this classic remains essential reading for anyone interested in mythology, religion, anthropology, and the origins of human belief.