I always feel that giving books as Christmas presents, like giving art, is something of a minefield, because tastes in books are so personal. Therefore, if you get it wrong, you will mortally offend your gift-ee, who will take it as confirmation that you don't really know them at all. (I’m fairly confident that friendships have been broken over poorly considered books given as gifts.) However, as a social anthropologist, I have some other classic offerings to add to your 'Introduction to Anthropology' collection, for those brave enough to give anthropology books as gifts.
1) In the interests of maintaining Anglo-Franco balance, you can’t possibly mention Levi-Strauss without also mentioning his most significant British counterpart, Mary Douglas, who was strongly influenced by his work but took it in new directions! See especially 'Purity and Danger' and 'Natural Symbols'.
2) Nigel Barley's 'An Innocent Anthropologist: Notes From a Mud Hut' – a hilarious account of his fieldwork in Cameroon which also takes some well-placed digs at the pretensions of anthropology as a discipline.
3) Marvin Harris's 'Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches: Riddles of Culture' – I’m not a cultural materialist myself, but he has an interesting and readable perspective on a wide array of topics from food taboos to the medieval witch hunts.
4) Peter Worsley's 'The Trumpet Shall Sound '– a fascinating study of cargo cults in Melanesia.
Also, if you decide to develop a category of 'recent but deeply unfashionable anthropology books' or 'popular anthropology books written by actual anthropologists' (although they're basically synonymous at this point) then may I be so bold as to nominate my own recent book: 'Silent but Deadly: The Underlying Cultural Patterns of Everyday Behaviour'.
Very useful Christmas book list, if only for myself! And good that you included a fiction book. I often start non-fiction books with lots of enthusiasm but rarely finish them. It seems the element of suspense is essential for me to keep reading. This is why Substack posts or articles, with their limited length, are ideal. Any longer and I might give up.
The problem with choosing a novel about pre-history or early history is that at the back of my mind I'm thinking, 'Would an expert in this field dismiss this as absolute trash?' From your recommendation I can assume that it's not a total fantasy and that although the events in the book didn't happen, there's no logical reason why they couldn't have.
It is a fantasy novel, with some supernatural elements, but I know Dan - he has a successful Youtube channel where he makes prehistoric documentaries, and I know how much research he does for his books - the Gods of Bronze series is a mythical retelling of the Hercules story, but set in the Bronze Age. All the details, from the sealskin clothing to the metallurgy, is accurate to the archaeology. I think you'll enjoy it, there's a great audiobook version as well if you enjoy listening to stories
Yes, it's the lack of knowledge which is the stumbling block. And if you're 64 and still don't know which came first, the Iron Age or the Bronze Age, then perhaps a Ladybird book with lots of pictures is best.
After reading this list I immediately went to Amazon and added 7 of the books to my 'Wishlist' and like you, the Neanderthal one was among them. There is something fascinating about them. Twenty years ago I read The Inheritors by William Golding and it wasn't until the last page that I realised I had been reading about the last band Neanderthals before they were finished off by us. I think since that book was written the view has changed and rather than kill them all we interbred with their women so they never fully died out but rather were diluted to a genetic whisper.
I always feel that giving books as Christmas presents, like giving art, is something of a minefield, because tastes in books are so personal. Therefore, if you get it wrong, you will mortally offend your gift-ee, who will take it as confirmation that you don't really know them at all. (I’m fairly confident that friendships have been broken over poorly considered books given as gifts.) However, as a social anthropologist, I have some other classic offerings to add to your 'Introduction to Anthropology' collection, for those brave enough to give anthropology books as gifts.
1) In the interests of maintaining Anglo-Franco balance, you can’t possibly mention Levi-Strauss without also mentioning his most significant British counterpart, Mary Douglas, who was strongly influenced by his work but took it in new directions! See especially 'Purity and Danger' and 'Natural Symbols'.
2) Nigel Barley's 'An Innocent Anthropologist: Notes From a Mud Hut' – a hilarious account of his fieldwork in Cameroon which also takes some well-placed digs at the pretensions of anthropology as a discipline.
3) Marvin Harris's 'Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches: Riddles of Culture' – I’m not a cultural materialist myself, but he has an interesting and readable perspective on a wide array of topics from food taboos to the medieval witch hunts.
4) Peter Worsley's 'The Trumpet Shall Sound '– a fascinating study of cargo cults in Melanesia.
Also, if you decide to develop a category of 'recent but deeply unfashionable anthropology books' or 'popular anthropology books written by actual anthropologists' (although they're basically synonymous at this point) then may I be so bold as to nominate my own recent book: 'Silent but Deadly: The Underlying Cultural Patterns of Everyday Behaviour'.
Very useful Christmas book list, if only for myself! And good that you included a fiction book. I often start non-fiction books with lots of enthusiasm but rarely finish them. It seems the element of suspense is essential for me to keep reading. This is why Substack posts or articles, with their limited length, are ideal. Any longer and I might give up.
The problem with choosing a novel about pre-history or early history is that at the back of my mind I'm thinking, 'Would an expert in this field dismiss this as absolute trash?' From your recommendation I can assume that it's not a total fantasy and that although the events in the book didn't happen, there's no logical reason why they couldn't have.
It is a fantasy novel, with some supernatural elements, but I know Dan - he has a successful Youtube channel where he makes prehistoric documentaries, and I know how much research he does for his books - the Gods of Bronze series is a mythical retelling of the Hercules story, but set in the Bronze Age. All the details, from the sealskin clothing to the metallurgy, is accurate to the archaeology. I think you'll enjoy it, there's a great audiobook version as well if you enjoy listening to stories
Thanks, I almost certainly will try it.
Yes, it's the lack of knowledge which is the stumbling block. And if you're 64 and still don't know which came first, the Iron Age or the Bronze Age, then perhaps a Ladybird book with lots of pictures is best.
After reading this list I immediately went to Amazon and added 7 of the books to my 'Wishlist' and like you, the Neanderthal one was among them. There is something fascinating about them. Twenty years ago I read The Inheritors by William Golding and it wasn't until the last page that I realised I had been reading about the last band Neanderthals before they were finished off by us. I think since that book was written the view has changed and rather than kill them all we interbred with their women so they never fully died out but rather were diluted to a genetic whisper.