Download or read book J. G. Frazer written by Robert Ackerman and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1990-09-13 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sir James G. Frazer's The Golden Bough, first published in 1890, was the first work in English to understand the religion of classical antiquity in the context of primitive religion. Its dramatic impact on the history of ideas lasted well into the twentieth century, in its association of religious myths with the more primitive forms of ritual and magic generated by the 'savage mind', identified as a common misunderstanding of the scientific laws governing the natural world. This highly acclaimed biography is a comprehensive study of Frazer's life, the influences on his work, and its wide-ranging implications for modern anthropology, classics, cultural history and folklore.