THE GOLDEN BOUGH
A Study in Magic and Religion
By James George Frazer
Read by Andrew Cullum
44 hours 16 minutes
The Golden Bough, the monumental study of religious rites and practices in ‘primitive’ societies, was one of the earliest influential texts in anthropology. Its author, Sir James Frazer, surveyed the wide range of cultural habits, taboos and beliefs in communities across the world concluding that there was an observable pattern in the way magic developed into religion, though formal expression emerged in different ways. It was a study that he continued for many years, with initial volumes appearing in 1890 and growing in size until the 12-volume edition was published in 1915. Continue Reading →