Anthropology Books

Humans are a puzzling species. On the one hand, we struggle to survive on our own in the wild, often failing to overcome even basic challenges, like obtaining food, building shelters, or avoiding predators. On the other hand, human groups have produced...

Journalists today are inundated with data about which stories attract the most clicks, likes, comments, and shares. These metrics influence what stories are written, how news is promoted, and even which journalists get hired and fired. Do metrics make...

The Revealer, Winter Reading RecommendationsA revealing look at Jewish men and women who secretly explore the outside world, in person and online, while remaining in their ultra-Orthodox religious communities.What would you do if you questioned your...

Millions of people around the world today spend portions of their lives in online virtual worlds. Second Life is one of the largest of these virtual worlds. The residents of Second Life create communities, buy property and build homes, go to concerts,...

In the age of search, keywords increasingly organize research, teaching, and even thought itself. Inspired by Raymond Williams's 1976 classic Keywords, the timely collection Digital Keywords gathers pointed, provocative short essays on more than two...

The hard work required to make god real, how it changes the people who do it, and why it helps explain the enduring power of faith How do gods and spirits come to feel vividly real to people-as if they were standing right next to them? Humans tend to see...

Most people in the world today think democracy and gender equality are good, and that violence and wealth inequality are bad. But most people who lived during the 10,000 years before the nineteenth century thought just the opposite. Drawing on...

As countless love songs, movies, and self-help books attest, men and women have long sought different things. The result? Seemingly inevitable conflict. Yet we belong to the most cooperative species on the planet. Isn't there a way we can use this...

Autism has attracted a great deal of attention in recent years, thanks to dramatically increasing rates of diagnosis, extensive organizational mobilization, journalistic coverage, biomedical research, and clinical innovation. Understanding Autism, a...

On April 26, 1986, Unit Four of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor exploded in then Soviet Ukraine. More than 3.5 million people in Ukraine alone, not to mention many citizens of surrounding countries, are still suffering the effects. Life Exposed is the...

The American military base on the island of Diego Garcia is one of the most strategically important and secretive U.S. military installations outside the United States. Located near the remote center of the Indian Ocean and accessible only by military...

How does an ethnographer write about violence? How can he make sense of violent acts, for himself and for his readers, without compromising its sheer excess and its meaning-defying core? How can he remain a scholarly observer when the country of his...

Combining great learning, interpretative originality, analytical sensitivity, and a charismatic prose style, Clifford Geertz has produced a lasting body of work with influence throughout the humanities and social sciences, and remains the foremost...

Back in print after thirty years, this is a classic collection of Chomsky essays. It is particularly valuable as the first of Chomsky's works to fully demonstrate his power as a political thinker. In his biting critiques of American foreign policy, the...

This book traces the history of the camel from its origins millions of years ago through to the present day, discussing such matters of current concern as the plight of camel herders in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region, the alarming increase in the...

This groundbreaking book by the acclaimed Dorothy Roberts examines how the myth of biological concept of race-revived by purportedly cutting-edge science, race-specific drugs, genetic testing, and DNA databases-continues to undermine a just society and...

Perhaps Studs Terkel's best-known book, Working is a compelling, fascinating look at jobs and the people who do them. Consisting of over one hundred interviews conducted with everyone from gravediggers to studio heads, this book provides a timeless...

"Island of Bali" is now available with a foreword by Professor Adrian Vickers which puts the book into context for a modern audience. First published in 1937, "Island of Bali" is still regarded by many as the most authoritative text on Bali and its...

This is the first English translation of a controversial Japanese best seller that made the public aware of the social problem of hikikomori, or "withdrawal"-a phenomenon estimated by the author to involve as many as one million Japanese adolescents and...

In thisremarkable and often dazzling book, Paul Carter explores the conditions for sociabilityin a globalized future. He argues that we make many assumptions about communicationbut overlook barriers to understanding between strangers as well as the...

Dogs are perhaps our most popular pets, and certainly one of the best-lovedof all animals. This book unravels the debate about whether dogs are descended from wolves, and moves on to deal with canines in mythology, religion and health, dog cults in...

Chinese Art is a guide to the meanings behind the hundreds of common motifs and symbols found in all forms of Chinese art. A thorough examination of the diverse usage of natural symbols, colors, numbers, inanimate items and personages,Chinese Art...

Shortlisted for the Blake Dawson Prize for Business LiteratureImmediate, intimate, portable and inexpensive, radio is the most pervasive medium in Australia. Changing Stations is the first full-scale, national history of commercial radio in Australia,...

In this newly revised edition of their classic work, Mason and Caiger trace the enthralling evolution of modern Japan from its early pre-history through the post-Cold War period to the collapse of the Bubble Economy in the early 1990s. New findings shed...

Featuring full-color photographs and illustrations throughout, this text is a comprehensive guide to Japanese culture. The richness of Japan's history is renowned worldwide. The heritage of culture that its society has produced and passed on to future...

As Mary Malbunka shares her stories of playing with friends, building cubby houses, climbing trees, collecting sugarbag, digging for honey ants, hunting for lizards, and learning about the seasons, animals and plants, she creates a vivid picture of a...