Published January 2008
I've already
used 'the Japanese handkerchief' in my class.' - Dr S. Wright,
University of Birmingham
'I
especially like the fact that films are recommended for each chapter.'
- Dr F. Hughes-Freeland, University of Wales
This
refreshingly clear and easy-to-read text offers the perfect
introduction to social anthropology for anyone approaching the subject
for the first time. It is
carefully structured so that one chapter builds on the next and it
covers all the core topics in an even-handed and illuminating manner,
introducing the reader to the depth of divergent views on all the most
basic subjects - food, hygiene, gift-exchange, rites of passage,
symbolism, religion, politics and the environment. Combining an
abundance of unobtrusive reference and further reading for the serious
student with an immensely readable and engaging writing style, this
book offers a compelling introduction to a growing and exciting
subject.

Published September 1987
An authoritative reference work, the
Palgrave Dictionary of Anthropology covers the entire range of
scholarship in this field, from the early ethnographers to the most
recent research. This concise guide provides succinct definitions of
basic concepts, summarizes key issues and the development of the major
theoretical schools, and discusses the contribution of some 250
British, American and European anthropologists. Its clear and lively
style enables the reader to approach such formidable topics as the
works of Levi-Strauss or the influence of semiology, and all 2000
entries are fully cross-referenced and include bibliographical
details. The Dictionary is
an introduction for the general reader, a handbook for students of
anthropology and many related disciplines, and a reference tool for
academic anthropologists. It covers both physical and cultural and
social anthropology, takes account of literature in all languages,
and, with its wide range and high level of scholarship, is a
significant contribution to the understanding of its subject