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This is a one-volume distillation of the 16-volume Macmillan Encyclopaedia of Religion. Drawing on a wealth of data made available by the encyclopaedia, Eliade began work on what was to become this compendium, in which the major religions are arranged in an alphabetical format. The history of 33 religions and information concerning religious events, notions and personalities are listed. The dictionary is arranged in two parts, with the Macro-dictionary containing summaries and explanations of 33 world religions, including Shinto, Shamanism, Taoism, South American religions, Slavic and Baltic religions, Confucianism, Egyptian mystery and Oceanian religions. The Micro-dictionary defines terms and topics of religions as well as providing references to longer explanations in the Macro-dictionary.

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Library Journal Review

Before his death in May of 1991, Eliade was working on a one-volume synthesis of the knowledge found in his 16-volume Encyclopedia of Religion (Macmillan, 1987) and his three-volume A History of Religious Ideas (Vol. 1, Univ. of Chicago Pr., 1978; Vol. 2, Univ. of Chicago Pr., 1982; Vol. 3, LJ 6/15/86). Couliano (history of religions, Univ. of Chicago) completed his mentor's task. The resulting work is unbiased and scholarly, yet accessible to the informed lay reader. Its format intentionally mimics that of the New Encyclopaedia Britannica , with 33 extensive ``macro-dictionary'' articles and a ``micro-dictionary'' of brief entries and index references. The volume provides an authoritative if brief overview of major religious traditions.-- Richard S. Watts, San Bernardino Cty. Lib., Cal. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

The concept of this book was developed by Eliade, the late professor of the history of religions at the University of Chicago and editor of the acclaimed Encyclopedia of Religion. He originally intended it to be a "distillation" of his three-volume History of Religious Ideas (Univ. of Chicago, 1978-85), but the book evolved instead into a compendium of information about the world's major religious traditions, drawing upon information contained in the Encyclopedia of Religion. It was completed by Couliano after Eliade's death. In his introduction, Couliano explains Eliade's philosophy of religion, reflected in this book. Unlike other sources that approach religion purely historically or from the point of view of a particular faith, this book treats religion as a universal, cognitive system, with characteristics and structure revealed by similarities among religions that are separated chronologically or geographically. The body of the book, called the "Macro-Dictionary," contains chapters on 33 religious traditions, arranged alphabetically from "African Religions" to "Zoroastrianism." Chapters range in length from two pages ("Tibetan Religions") to 32 ("Christian Religions"). Each chapter is further divided into a hierarchy of numbered sections, each addressing a specific aspect of the religion. While the subdivisions are different for each chapter, most address the history of the religion, its philosophical and spiritual basis, its founders and other key figures, texts, doctrine, ritual, and religious life. Each religious tradition is treated in an objective, unbiased manner. Although intended for "easy, practical use," nonspecialist readers may find the scholarly text challenging. They may need to consult dictionaries of religious terms for explanations of concepts such as geomancy, autochthonous, or traducianism, which are used but not defined in this guide. Each chapter ends with a bibliography, arranged to correspond to the chapter's sections. Almost all citations are to the Encyclopedia of Religion or books written in English or French, many published in the 1980s. For example, "African Religions" cites 16 articles in the Encyclopedia of Religion, six books in English, nine in French, and one in Dutch. The second part of the book, the "Micro-Dictionary," is an index of about 2,000 terms. Most entries include only references to section numbers in the "Macro-Dictionary," but others provide brief definitions of persons and concepts not treated in the chapters (e.g., Baha'is, cargo cults, Jehovah's Witnesses). The "Micro-Dictionary" can help the reader identify characters or concepts that cut across religious traditions. For example, it provides references to the appearance of the "trickster" in African, Germanic, Greek, Hindu, native American, Oceanic, and South American religions. The "Micro-Dictionary" is not always successful as a source of "brief identification of key religious figures, sacred books, and spiritual themes," as advertised on the book's jacket. It is not clear why some terms aren't listed. For example, Blavatsky, Helena is included, but there is no entry for the Theosophical Movement, which she founded. While there are entries for some cross-cultural phenomena (e.g., the above-mentioned trickster, sacrifice), others are not included in the index at all (e.g., reincarnation, resurrection). The Eliade Guide to World Religions will appeal to readers and librarians who have been using the Encyclopedia of Religion to pull together overviews of religious traditions. Despite Eliade's association with both sources, they do not duplicate one another. Another one-volume guide to world religions with a more strictly historical approach is World Religions, edited by Stewart Sutherland and others (G. K. Hall, 1988), which includes signed articles by specialists. This work is an appropriate purchase for academic reference collections. Libraries with the Encyclopedia of Religion and World Religions in their reference collections may want to place The Eliade Guide in the circulating collection to be read cover to cover by patrons interested in Eliade's thought or comparative religion. (Reviewed May 15, 1992)

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Born in Bucharest, Rumania, Mircea Eliade studied at the University of Bucharest and, from 1928 to 1932, at the University of Calcutta with Surendranath Dasgupta. After taking his doctorate in 1933 with a dissertation on yoga, he taught at the University of Bucharest and, after the war, at the Sorbonne in Paris.

From 1957, Eliade was a professor of the history of religions at the University of Chicago. He was at the same time a writer of fiction, known and appreciated especially in Western Europe, where several of his novels and volumes of short stories appeared in French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese. Two Tales of the Occult "to relate some yogic techniques, and particularly yogic folklore, to a series of events narrated in the genre of a mystery story." Both Nights of Serampore and The Secret of Dr. Honigberger evoke the mythical geography and time of India. Mythology, fantasy, and autobiography are skillfully combined in Eliade's tales.

(Bowker Author Biography)