The mythologies of the world are collective cultural dreams, and as such should be analyzed first from cultural perspectives. How do myths of the ancient Egyptians or Greeks, for instance, reflect the realities of the Egyptian and Greek cultures? When compared, however, mythologies reveal certain universal themes or motifs that point to larger trans-cultural issues such as the place of the human species in creation or the nature of deity as a concept. World Mythology: A Very Short Introduction is organized around the universal motifs. Creation, the Flood, the Hero Quest, the Trickster/Culture Hero, the Pantheons, the High God, the Great Goddess. Veteran mythology scholar David Leeming examines examples of each motif from a variety of cultures—Greek, Egyptian, Norse, American Indian, African, Polynesian, Jewish, Christian, Hindu—treating them as reflections of the cultures that "dreamed" them. He compares and analyzes them, exposing their universal significance and...

The definitive biography of Felix Frankfurter, Supreme Court justice and champion of twentieth-century American liberal democracy.The conventional wisdom about Felix Frankfurter—Harvard law professor and Supreme Court justice—is that he struggled to fill the seat once held by Oliver Wendell Holmes. Scholars have portrayed Frankfurter as a judicial failure, a liberal lawyer turned conservative justice, and the Warren Court's principal villain. And yet none of these characterizations rings true.A pro-government, pro-civil rights liberal who rejected shifting political labels, Frankfurter advocated for judicial restraint—he believed that people should seek change not from the courts but through the democratic political process. Indeed, he knew American presidents from Theodore Roosevelt to Lyndon Johnson, advised Franklin Roosevelt, and inspired his students and law clerks to enter government service.Organized around...

Their attraction returns instantly! But she still has two big secrets to reveal in this secret baby romance from Joss Wood.She has a confession: Her sons are also his! Thadie Le Roux has not one but two reminders of those incredible hours in Angus Docherty's arms. But unable to contact her twins' elusive father, the society heiress decides she has to move on. Until she's caught in a paparazzi frenzy and the security expert who rescues her is Angus himself! Learning he's a father changes everything for lone-wolf Angus—except the dizzying desire he feels for Thadie. So when she escapes to a private Seychelles island, Angus will accompany her. And he will discover what this means for their future...From Harlequin Presents: Escape to exotic locations where passion knows no bounds.Read all the Scandals of the Le Roux Wedding books: Book 1: The Billionaire's One-Night BabyBook 2: The...

Seven-year-old Chellamuthu's life—and his destiny—is forever changed when he is kidnapped from his village in Southern India and sold to the Lincoln Home for Homeless Children. His family is desperate to find him, and Chellamuthu anxiously tells the Indian orphanage he is not an orphan, that he has a mother who loves him. But he is told not to worry as he will soon be adopted by a loving family in America.Chellamuthu is suddenly surrounded by a foreign land and a foreign language. He can't tell people that he already has a family and becomes consumed by a single, impossible question: How do I get home? But after more than a decade, home becomes a much more complicated idea as the Indian boy eventually sheds his past and receives a new name: Taj Khyber Rowland.It isn't until Taj meets an Indian family who helps him rediscover his culture and family history that he begins to discover the truth he has all but forgotten. Taj is determined to...

I can’t remember anymore if my grandfather’s eyes were blue or green, but I’ll never forget the way they wrinkled at the corners when he laughed at one of his own jokes. Or the way they sparkled with mischief when he told me tales about the magical creatures that dwelled in the forest behind his humble Irish sheep farm—shy fairies who liked to eat tea biscuits, cruel witches who liked to eat children, a moody lake spirit with a taste for expensive gifts.  As a child, I believed every fantastical word. But when he warned me about the mute boy who also lurked in those woods, the one the priest had declared to be the spawn of Satan himself, I refused to listen. Kellen wasn’t evil. He was kind, and beautiful, and special, and hurting. He was my friend. And with every summer I spent stolen away with him in those enchanted woods, he grew to become so much more. But when I return to Glenshire as an adult, grieving and engaged to someone else, all those legends quickly morph into nightmares. My grandfather had been right about everything, especially the boy. If only I had listened.

"With each new chapter, The Woman in the Library opens the door to new histories. More murders...more clues...As Gentill's characters grow, the desire to know more about each ensnares us, and the only way out is to read to the end." —New York Journal of BooksNed Kelly award winning author, Sulari Gentill sets this mystery-within-a-mystery in motion with a deceptively simple, Dear Hannah, What are you writing? pulling us into the ornate reading room at the Boston Public Library.In every person's story, there is something to hide...The tranquility is shattered by a woman's terrified scream. Security guards take charge immediately, instructing everyone inside to stay put until the threat is identified and contained. While they wait for the all-clear, four strangers, who'd happened to sit at the same table, pass the time in conversation and friendships are struck. Each has his or her own reasons for being in the reading room...

One office. Two enemies. And a secret he CANNOT find out… You know that post vacation glow? Where you’re all sun kissed and optimistic and determined to make changes in your life? Well, mine lasted for about five minutes. Until I walked into the office and saw Myles Salinger sitting in my boss’s chair. One look at his scowling face was enough to make me want to fly straight back to Europe. And no, he’s not getting any of the donuts I brought it for the team. He doesn’t deserve them. You see, on paper he’s my contemporary. But in reality he’s been my workplace nemesis for the last two years. Lucky for us we’re usually separated by five hundred miles. But now he’s here in my face, throwing his impressive weight around and driving everybody crazy with his demands. Especially me. Good thing he doesn’t know the big decision I made while I was away. That I’m going to try for a baby. Alone. If he ever finds out he’ll never let me hear the end of it. So let’s keep it between us. Okay? Strictly Business is a steamy enemies-to-lovers romance. Expect some hot scenes, a little cussing and two characters whose heads you’d love to bang together…