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I do not know of a better book than this as a presentation of the furthest point anthropologists have yet reached in the study of primitive religion. It gives a background of ethnological knowledge on the subject of religion such as no psycho-analyst should be without, and we would warmly recommend it to every analyst's library.
The author has a critical spirit with a remarkably sane and balanced judgment. He displays no prejudices whatever and is able to examine very objectively the numerous theories on religion which—often for personal reasons—have obtained a temporary vogue. He is not at all carried away by the excessive claims of the Rivers' school of culture, diffusion, and points out the anti-psychological bias behind it, as also the theological bias behind the allied 'primary monstheism' view of Schmidt. He is entirely critical of Marett's animatism or of any pre-animistic theories.
The strength of the book lies in the author's critical powers together with his wide knowledge of the literature and first-hand experience in ethnological field work. The constructive side is less original and rather indeterminate. The author holds that the idea of the soul is derived mainly from the savage's bewilderment at the phenomenon of death, aided by his observations of dream life. The essence of religion he would appear to see in primitive man's awe at the mysterious, i.e. the not understood.
The author is fatally handicapped by apparently total ignorance of the unconscious mind with its symbolism and peculiar dynamics, a knowledge of which would instantly unlock the numerous problems, e.g. animal worship, ancestor worship, etc., before which he stands helpless. In the bibliography of some 300 names no mention occurs of the works of Freud, Róheim or the present reviewer.