This book is apart of a series by this author that writes about different topic of things to inform the reader more. It is nonfiction and mostly about history. This specific book is about the myths of the world and their implications for art, science, religion and culture throughout history. ( )

This book was very detailed so it's an investment of time. However, I thought the history of the cultures mixed in with various myths was worth reading. I love how Davis explored all cultures equally, not just focus on the traditional Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythology. I would have loved more of the myths to be included, but that would have made it an even more lengthy time investment so I understand edits had to be made. ( )

A nice primer to world mythology, perfunctory in places but that's to be expected. Nice to read in tandem with all the Joseph Campbell stuff. ( )

This was an audiobook and the reader was just shy of terrible. Every word he could butcher, he did. The worst was when he pronounced the same word multiple ways (eg. shaman: shah-mən, shah-man, shay-mən).

The book itself was really fascinating. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I go out of my way to read about mythology, but I must admit there are many mythologies that I'm just not very familiar with.

A critique on the book itself - the author really should have stuck with discussing the myths themselves and tried to get involved in modern controversial topics (which he did significantly with Native Americans and their myths). ( )

This book is an intersting blend of history and mythology--and really does prove that most of us don't know much about either! Each section of the book starts with a timeline of events for the part of the world being discussed (ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, the Americas, Pacific islands, and more) and then follows with information on the myths of each in a question-and-answer format, including a "who's who" of gods and goddesses for each region. Sprinkled throughout each section are "mythic voices", brief segments from sources as varied as the Bible, Egypt's Book of the Dead, Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung that serve to renforce the primary text. Overall a fascinating book, it really is a bit too much to read in a short period of time. We listened to the audio version while driving in the car--it was well read by John Lee, though at times his British accent and slightly different pronunciations got to be a bit distracting--over about three months. Definitely recommended, though it is not for young children, as quite a bit of awkward explanations would be needed. Ancient myths are not at all G-rated! ( )