Subtitled: The Myth and the Cult of the Virgin Mary. From the cover: "Devoting different sections of the book to each of the various roles Mary has assumed -- Virgin, Queen, Bride, Mother, Intercessor -- and drawing on official dogma, folk legend, art, history, literature, and psychology, the author ... shows how the figure of Mary has shaped and been shaped by changing social and historical circumstances from the first century to the present day .... "