Dawson (modern languages, U. of Costa Rica) traces the evolution of the word "scapegoat" through English from its original Biblical meaning referring to a goat that symbolically carried sins away in the Day of Atonement to its metaphorical sense of someone unjustly blamed and vicariously punished for the transgression of others. In following the changing use of the word, he finds a shift in human social life from a religious, collective existence towards more democratic and secular ideals (e.g., personal accountability, equality under the law) that tracks the changing meaning of "scapegoat." Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)