Sacred Symbols: Peoples, Religions, Mysteries Hardcover – 23 Feb. 2009

I think that this is useful to own. The pictures are well presented, very beautiful, and extremely colourful. I have always admired Thames and Hudson for producing exquisitely designed books, and this is no exception. You get a lot for your money - there are 797 pages. It covers a lot of ground with pictorial representations of Buddhist, Christian, Chinese and Egyptian religious art.As this is a book primarily for the senses, I don't think indexes and text are so important. At the back there is a very detailed picture credit list. Each picture is accompanied by a short summary explaining the major themes connected with the symbols.The main plus point for me is to have 770 illustrations (595 in colour) at my fingertips in one compact book (it is not large). I can easily find supplementary information to help me further understand each symbol. So, as a primer for exploring mythic symbols and religious art, this is an excellent book.

This book is very helpful to understand the meaning and relation of religious symbols. Very often symbolism was readily understood at the time it was created but as society and culture changed the symbolism became lost in time.I was also fascinated by The Eleusinian and Bacchic Mysteries.

This is beautifully illustrated and could be a reasonably useful reference book but it is seriously let down by the lack of an index. This reduces "Sacred symbols" to the level of a coffee table book.