Robert A. Segal was born, raised, and educated in the United States. He received his PhD in religion from Princeton University. He taught in the US for many years at Reed College, Stanford University, the University of Pittsburgh, and Tulane University before relocating to the UK in fall 1994. He taught at Lancaster University, before moving in 2006 to the University of Aberdeen, where he is Sixth Century Chair in Religious Studies. He teaches and writes on theories of myth and on theories of religion. Among the books he has written or edited are Joseph Campbell (1987, 1990) The Gnostic Jung (1992), Jung on Mythology (1998), The Myth and Ritual Theory (1998), Theorizing about Myth (1999), The Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion (2006), and 30-Second Mythology (2012). He is currently editing the Oxford Handbook of Myth Theory.

The volume fulfills its function admirably, it is a pleasure to read, and Segal's grasp of myth theories, as well as his ability to present them lucidly, is impressive. It is refreshing to read an author who takes all the myth theorists that he discusses quite seriously and explains them clearly, but who engages his materials from a keen theoretical point of view, always with a view to logical inconsistencies and gaps in the argumentation.

• Introduction: Theories of myth ; 1. Myth and science ; 2. Myth and philosophy ; 3. Myth and religion ; 4. Myth and ritual ; 5. Myth and literature ; 6. Myth and psychology ; 7. Myth and structure ; 8. Myth and politics ; Conclusion: bringing myth back to the world ; References