What did it mean to be 'civilized' in Early Modern England? Keith Thomas's seminal studies "Religion and the Decline of Magic", "Man and the Natural World", and "The Ends of Life", explored the beliefs, values and social practices of the years bet...

This is the French anthropologist as we've never heard him before: Marc Auge coined the term "non-place" to describe uniquitous, global airports, hotels and motorways filled with anonymous individuals. In this new book, he casts his anthropologist's...

For sale in CIS only! Many people today have never heard of the Comoros, but these islands were once part of a prosperous economic system that stretched halfway around the world. A key node in the trading networks of the Indian Ocean, the Comoros th...

Traditionally used in Aboriginal funeral ceremonies, memorial poles have been transformed into compelling contemporary artworks. The memorial pole is made from the trunk of the Eucalyptus tetradonta, hollowed naturally by termites. When the bones of...

In 1911, the publication of Franz Boas's "The Mind of Primitive Man" challenged widely held claims about race and intelligence that justified violence and inequality. Now, a group of leading scholars examines how this groundbreaking work hinged on re...

How do contemporary generations come to terms with losses inflicted by imperialism, colonialism, and war that took place decades ago? How do descendants of perpetrators and victims establish new relations in today's globalized economy? With "Inherita...

In anthropology, a field that is known for its critical edge and intellectual agility, few books manage to maintain both historical value and contemporary relevance. Roy Wagner's "The Invention of Culture", originally published in 1975, is one. Wagne...

As with the compass needle, so people have always been most powerfully attracted northwards; everyone carries within them their own concept of north. "The Idea of North" is a study, ranging widely in time and place, of some of the ways in which these...

For sale in CIS only! Until the 1930s no woman could perform in public and retain respectability in India. Professional female performers were courtesans and dancing girls who lived beyond the confines of marriage, but were often powerful figures in...

This exquisitely illustrated and extensive map charts the peoples and languages of Alaska natives. The author, who founded the Alaska Native Language Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and directed it until 2000, was responsible for assembl...