Designed for college use, this is an outstanding reader if you want to get a sense of how the same mythic themes occur in cultures from all over the world. After some general background on different ways to study mythology, the authors present myths grouped under the headings of Creation, The Female Divine, The Male Divine, Trickster Myths, and Sacred Places. The collection covers cultures from all continents and has great maps and extensive bibliographies for further reading. Their versions of Norse myths are not the best, I'm told by a colleague who is steeped in them, but otherwise, I've seen nothing to complain about their retellings. ( )