I can never resist a Pelican blue. This appears to have been published in 1963 when its author was 89. That can't be right, surely? I can find no source that gives an earlier date, and certainly this short overview presents us with a long lifetime's consideration of what became the root of three of the world's great religions.
It begins with a discussion of the elements of myth and ritual. Hooke then moves on to Mesopotamian myths, which of course includes the Gilgamesh cycle which fascinates me. Egyptian myth does not interest me so much and yet it has to be covered here because it clearly influenced the Jews that Moses led out of Egypt and Hooke is excellent in highlighting the links - for example, Moses being hidden to avoid the slaughter of the first-born in Egypt and Jesus being taken into Egypt to escape Herod's slaughter of the first-born. I have no idea, even after carefully reading the chapter, where Ugaritic myths arose. I have some very basic understanding of the Hittite cultural and at least know where it was based.
Hooke then moves on to Hebrew mythology which, as a white Englishman who won all the prizes at Sunday school, is also my mythology. Hooke is downright brilliant here (he was the editor in chief of a Bible in 'basic' English which I must get hold of). He definitely added to my knowledge, particular in relation to Joshua and the myths of Elijah and Elisha. He devotes a short but separate chapter to the Book of Daniel, which is outright brilliant. He rather boldly, I think, for 1963, ends by following the myths into the New Testament. Here, my personal interest lies in the four gospels and their authors; Hooke covers them but shies away from John (which I consider to be the most reliable) because it contains the least myth and almost no ritual.
Excellent book, highly readable and strikingly modern, especially when we remind ourselves that S H Hooke was born in 1874 and was a grown man when Queen Victoria died.