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 the first to make 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. This edition makes Ackerman's fascinating account of Frazer's life available in paperback for the first time. '... the definitive biography ...' New Statesman and Society '... an intellectual history of the age, as elegant as it is comprehensive'. The Times 'Ackerman triumphantly succeeds in recreating the mental atmosphere of the late-Victorian world, suspended between religion and science.' Sunday Telegraph '... masterly'. The New Republic