Anthropology

This compilation of study guides features mostly nonfiction works studying human behavior and its relationship to the environment, culture, and society. Spanning decades this diverse collection includes titles such as Ruth Benedict’s Patterns of Culture (1934) and Jason De León’s The Land of Open Graves (2015). Read on to discover more about the research of leading anthropologists and evolutionary biologists, archaeological discoveries, and the origins of human behavior.

The Lost City of the Monkey God

by Douglas Preston

Publication year 2017

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Safety & Danger

Tags US History, Anthropology, Anthropology, Science & Nature, World History, Travel Literature, Action & Adventure

The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story is a New York Times best-selling nonfiction book written by journalist and novelist Douglas Preston and published by Grand Central Publishing in 2017. Preston’s book follows the history of various expeditions in search of the legendary Lost City of the Monkey God in the La Mosquitia region of Honduras. Most of the book covers an aerial lidar survey and a ground expedition organized and led... Read The Lost City of the Monkey God Summary

The Lost City of Z

by David Grann

Publication year 2009

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Colonialism, The Past, Truth & Lies, Appearance & Reality, Place

Tags World History, Action & Adventure, Travel Literature, Mystery & Crime Fiction, History of the Americas, Race & Racism, World War I, Anthropology, Anthropology, Science & Nature, Biography

David Grann’s The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon (2009) tells the story of Percy Harrison Fawcett’s ill-fated expedition into the Brazilian jungle. After nearly two decades spent exploring the region and gathering evidence, Fawcett concluded that a sophisticated ancient civilization, a city he called Z, lay hidden deep in the Amazonian wilderness. In 1925, while searching for Z, Fawcett disappeared along with his son Jack and Jack’s friend... Read The Lost City of Z Summary

The Managed Heart

by Arlie Russell Hochschild

Publication year 1983

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Conflict, Hate & Anger, Joy, Mental Health, Social Class, Community, Economics, Education, Politics & Government, Justice, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger, Truth & Lies

Tags Education, Education, Anthropology, Anthropology, Gender & Feminism, Social Science, Business & Economics, Sociology, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy, Philosophy

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The Mismeasure Of Man

by Stephen Jay Gould

Publication year 1982

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Nature Versus Nurture

Tags World History, Sociology, Anthropology, Anthropology, Science & Nature, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy, Philosophy, Politics & Government

The Mismeasure of Man, by Stephen Jay Gould, is a survey and critique of 19th- and 20th-century theories that posited human intelligence was a fixed and measurable number. Gould argues that mainstream scientists were not immune to the widespread racist and prejudicial beliefs of their time, and that these unconscious biases underlie the history of biological determinism, or the argument that shared human behavior is innate and primarily controlled by biology. Under this argument, social... Read The Mismeasure Of Man Summary

The Order of Things

by Michel Foucault

Publication year 1966

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Science & Technology, Self Discovery, Language, Objects & Materials

Tags Philosophy, Science & Nature, Sociology, Psychology, Education, Education, Anthropology, Anthropology, French Literature, World History, Psychology, Philosophy

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The Power of Myth

by Joseph Campbell

Publication year 1991

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Language, Literature, Religion & Spirituality, Community

Tags Anthropology, Anthropology, Philosophy, Sociology, World History, Psychology, Psychology, Fantasy, Classic Fiction, Religion & Spirituality, Mythology, Philosophy

The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers, published in 1988, is a nonfiction companion to a six-episode PBS documentary series by the same name. The main text of the book is a transcript of an extensive conversation between comparative mythology expert Joseph Campbell and journalist Bill Moyers. Using mythological stories, psychoanalytic theories, and personal anecdotes, Campbell and Moyers examine how world mythologies illuminate the mysteries of human life through shared symbols as... Read The Power of Myth Summary

The Presentation Of Self In Everyday Life

by Erving Goffman

Publication year 1959

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Community

Tags Education, Education, Anthropology, Anthropology, Science & Nature, Social Science, Sociology, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy, Philosophy

The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life is a sociological study of the ways individuals encounter each other. Published in 1956 by Erving Goffman, it focuses on the relationship between an individual carrying out a particular role in society (what Goffman calls a “performance”) and those who are present but not participant (whom he calls “observers”) in the activity. While the text begins with a general introduction to Goffman’s methodology, with Chapter 1 solely an... Read The Presentation Of Self In Everyday Life Summary

The Sociological Imagination

by C. Wright Mills

Publication year 1959

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Tags Sociology, Education, Education, Anthropology, Anthropology, Science & Nature, Social Science, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy, Philosophy, Politics & Government

C. Wright Mills’ The Sociological Imagination covers the recent history of sociology as a field of study relating to society and the lives of individuals therein. While Mills’ work was not well received at the time of publication due to his reputation, today it is one of the most widely read sociology books and a staple in sociology university courses. The questions this text raises and the attention it gives to reconceiving the contemporary human... Read The Sociological Imagination Summary

The Spell of the Sensuous

by David Abram

Publication year 1996

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Indigenous Identity, Future, The Past, Animals, Appearance & Reality, Climate, Environment, Plants, Objects & Materials, Place, Space, Community, Globalization, Order & Chaos, Religion & Spirituality, Science & Technology, Language

Tags Philosophy, Science & Nature, Psychology, Religion & Spirituality, Anthropology, Anthropology, Psychology, Philosophy

... Read The Spell of the Sensuous Summary

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

by Anne Fadiman

Publication year 1997

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Love, Disability, Trust & Doubt

Tags Health, Science & Nature, Sociology, Immigration & Refugeeism, American Literature, Education, Education, Anthropology, Anthropology, World History, Biography

Anne Fadiman’s nonfiction book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures chronicles the life of Lia Lee, a Hmong girl who lives with her family in Merced, California, in the 1980s and 1990s. The book examines the cultural misunderstandings and conflicting belief systems that result in Lia’s poor medical treatment after she is diagnosed with a severe form of epilepsy, Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome... Read The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Summary