Originally published in 1993 as Mythologies du Xxe siècle: Dumézil, Eliade, Lévi-Strauss, this work by Dubuisson (director of research, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France) explains and evaluates the theoretical treatment of mythology as variously formulated by French philologist Georges Dumézil, Romanian philosopher and historian of religion Mircea Eliade, and French anthropologist Claude Lévi Strauss. He interrogates the foundational assumption of each theory and tests them for their internal consistency and their ability to explain the origin and function of mythology. Dumézil and Lévi-Strauss receive far more favorable treatment than Eliade, whose theory is seen as intellectual fraud covering up a fascist and racist political ideology. Distributed in North America by David Brown Book Co. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)