William Robertson Smith

Aleksandar Bošković is Senior Researcher at the Institute of Archaeology in Belgrade. He is the author or editor of fifteen books, including Other People's Anthropologies: Ethnographic Practice on the Margins (Berghahn, 2008).

• List of FiguresPrefaceAcknowledgementsNotes on TextIntroductionChapter 1. The Life of William Robertson SmithChapter 2. Smith’s Travels and EthnographiesChapter 3. A Journey in the HijazChapter 4. Anthropology, Religion, and MythChapter 5. Myth, its Meaning and some of its ExplanationsChapter 6. Anthropological Approaches to the Study of MythChapter 7. “Myth and Ritual School”Chapter 8. Methodology and Literary CriticismChapter 9. Sociological Aspects of Old Testament ReligionConclusion: Concluding RemarksReferencesIndex

“This book, written by the editor [of the new series Anthropology’s Ancestors] himself, provides an excellent overview of Smith’s life, his contributions notably to the study of religion in its social context, and his legacy in twentieth-century anthropology…Bošković, who is a seasoned theorist of myth in his own right, has produced a very readable, useful book about the little-known work of one of the scholars on whose shoulders twentieth-century anthropologists are perched.” • Anthropological Journal of European Cultures (AJEC)“Aleksandar Boskovic has written a nuanced, reliable, highly recommendable guide through the life and opus of Robertson Smith, which, on a more general level, is also a journey through the beginnings and later developments of social anthropology.” • Starinar“This is a clear, well-informed and interesting account of Robertson Smith’s central ideas. The theories are set in the context of debates of the day, and their influence on anthropology and bible studies is discussed. An original and fascinating section reviews Robertson Smith’s field work in the Middle East, which was much more extensive and intensive than is, I think, generally appreciated.” • Adam Kuper, London School of Economics