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In this important, scholarly and wide-ranging text, Brian Morris provides a lucid outline of the nature of the explanations of religious phenomena offered by such great thinkers as Hegel, Marx, and Weber. In doing so he also unravels the many theoretical strategies in the study of religion that have been developed and explored by later anthropologists. Besides discussing the classical authors and the debates surrounding their work, Morris presents perceptive accounts of more contemporary scholars such as Jung, Malinowski, Levi-Strauss, Geertz, and Godelier. Written from the standpoint of critical sympathy, and free of jargon, this book is an invaluable guide to the writings on religion of all the major figures in anthropology.

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• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1 Religion as ideology
• 2 Religion as theodicy
• 3 The anthropological tradition
• 4 Religion and psychology
• 5 Religion: meaning and function
• 6 Religious thought: structure and hermeneutics
• Selected monographs for further reading
• References
• Index

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CHOICE Review

Morris provides an extremely erudite and well-written overview of the history of anthropological theories of religion from Hegel to C. Geertz, M. Godelier, and other leading contemporary figures. His long chapters purposely eschew topical organization and divisions between anthropology and comparative religion. Morris examines primary themes through time: ideology, theodicy, psychology, meaning and function, structure and hermeneutics. The book is weighted toward classical theorists who serve as a template for understanding major modern figures. In turn, more modern figures-A.R. Radcliffe-Brown, B. Malinowski, L. Levy-Bruhl, M. Eliade, V. Turner, E.E. Evans-Pritchard, C. Levi-Strauss, M. Douglas, and E. Leach-are well presented through brief biographies, analyses of key works, and careful criticism based on a wide command of the literature. The book is nonjudgmental, although one wishes for a longer introduction or a conclusion both to present the author's own viewpoint more fully and to bring these issues more fluidly into contemporary debates. The book is demanding for introductory students, but will be useful for more advanced students as a reference text on theory and change. Excellent bibliography and annotated suggested readings. Recommended for advanced undergraduates and above.-G.W. McDonogh, New College of the University of South Florida