Books by David (Professor of English and Comparative Literature Leeming

Offers a comprehensive study of the mythology of the Middle East, that tumultuous region that was the cradle of civilization. With key maps, illustrations, bibliography, and index, this book provides an account of a mythology that remains a potent - and often destructive - force in the world.

In Myth David Leeming traces the role of myth and mythologies in the human experience. Stresing myths of creation, deity, the hero, and union, he particularly shows how these cultural and universal dreams and patterns affect the way we operate today in our classrooms, relationships, religions and politics.

From Iceland to India, from prehistoric cave paintings and fertility figurines to such modern-day 'myths' as the invisible hand, the Oedipal conflict and Schrodinger's cat, the author's treatise on comparative mythology covers a lot of ground.

This is an A-Z dictionary of mythologies of the Asian continent. Major characters, places and events of Asian mythology, as well as certain relevant themes and cultural traditions are included.

Written by David Leeming, one of the world's most trusted voices on mythology, The Oxford Companion to World Mythology promises to be a lively non-pedantic yet intellectually sound book that will engage the reader and reveal the extraordinary depth and beauty of the world of myth.

From the fertile earth mothers of the ancient world to the revival of interest in witchcraft, images and tales of the Female Divine have flourished and waned. The authors gather 75 of these tales in a introduction of this divine figure as she has emerged from prehistory to the present.

This is an examination of the god archetype from Palaeolithic time to the present day. The essays gathered here relate issues of myth and gender to the use of the male as a metaphor for the great mystery of existence. The evolution of the male god is traced from servant of the goddess to patriarch.