Folk and fairy tales pervade the everyday world to such a degree that we are sometimes unaware of their enormous influence on our behaviour. In the seven essays in this collection, Zipes discusses historically and critically the evolution of folk tales as fairy tales, their influence on popular beliefs, the politics behind them and the way they are used in mass media culture today. He looks at how a wide range of authors, including the Brothers Grimm, Perrault, the German romantics, Hans Christian Andersen, Wilde and Tolkien used fairy tales as he assesses their enduring importance.

About the Author

Jack Zipes, professor of German and director of the Center for German and European Studies at the University of Minnesota, is the author of many books on folk and fairy tales, including Fairy Tale as Myth/Myth as Fairy Tale. He lives in Minneapolis.

Reviews

"The name Jack Zipes is synonymous with highly regarded and widely read anthologies and critiques of fairy tales." - Choice