A wide-ranging and detailed investigation of folk heroes, both fictional and historical, from the earliest times to the present, taken from societies throughout the world as they exist in folktales, folksongs, customs, speech, and other folklore genres. * Spotlights 366 folk heroes, from old acquaintances like Bluebeard and Casey Jones to new friends like Bunuwas and Chokanamma * Includes 51 illustrations-paintings, drawings, and photographs * A timeline documents the earliest known appearance of each hero * A general index combined with indexes by heroic type and by country/culture make research easy