Anthropology Great Books (Now Includes Books That Are Just OK)

1.
Argonauts of the Western Pacific
Argonauts of the Western Pacific 3.76 avg rating — 1,422 ratings
2.
The Nuer: A Description of the Modes of Livelihood and Political Institutions of a Nilotic People
The Nuer: A Description of the Modes of Livelihood and Political Institutions of a Nilotic People 3.46 avg rating — 1,051 ratings
3.
The Interpretation of Cultures
The Interpretation of Cultures 4.11 avg rating — 3,827 ratings
4.
Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic Among the Azande
Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic Among the Azande 3.85 avg rating — 1,145 ratings
5.
Coming of Age in Samoa: A Psychological Study of Primitive Youth for Western Civilisation
Coming of Age in Samoa: A Psychological Study of Primitive Youth for Western Civilisation 3.55 avg rating — 3,150 ratings
6.
Tristes Tropiques
Tristes Tropiques 4.14 avg rating — 3,981 ratings
7.
The Perception of the Environment: Essays on Livelihood, Dwelling and Skill
The Perception of the Environment: Essays on Livelihood, Dwelling and Skill 4.26 avg rating — 228 ratings
8.
The Origin of Species
The Origin of Species 4.01 avg rating — 120,190 ratings
9.
Beyond Culture
Beyond Culture 3.95 avg rating — 875 ratings
10.
Patterns of Culture
Patterns of Culture 3.82 avg rating — 1,626 ratings
11.
Outline of a Theory of Practice
Outline of a Theory of Practice 4.06 avg rating — 1,671 ratings
12.
Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind
Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind 4.15 avg rating — 2,843 ratings
13.
Boiling Energy: Community Healing among the Kalahari Kung
Boiling Energy: Community Healing among the Kalahari Kung really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 43 ratings
14.
Culture & Truth: The Remaking of Social Analysis
Culture & Truth: The Remaking of Social Analysis 4.14 avg rating — 226 ratings
15.
Veiled Sentiments: Honor and Poetry in a Bedouin Society
Veiled Sentiments: Honor and Poetry in a Bedouin Society 3.99 avg rating — 1,445 ratings
16.
A Scientific Theory of Culture and Other Essays
A Scientific Theory of Culture and Other Essays 3.68 avg rating — 87 ratings
17.
The Forest of Symbols: Aspects Of Ndembu Ritual
The Forest of Symbols: Aspects Of Ndembu Ritual 3.93 avg rating — 366 ratings
18.
Conformity and Conflict: Readings in Cultural Anthropology
Conformity and Conflict: Readings in Cultural Anthropology 3.70 avg rating — 436 ratings
19.
Ethnic Groups and Boundaries: The Social Organization
Ethnic Groups and Boundaries: The Social Organization 4.12 avg rating — 113 ratings
20.
Ritual, Politics, and Power
Ritual, Politics, and Power 3.93 avg rating — 72 ratings
21.
Honour, Family and Patronage: A Study of Institutions and Moral Values in a Greek Mountain Community
Honour, Family and Patronage: A Study of Institutions and Moral Values in a Greek Mountain Community 3.79 avg rating — 14 ratings
22.
A Franz Boas Reader: The Shaping of American Anthropology, 1883-1911
A Franz Boas Reader: The Shaping of American Anthropology, 1883-1911 4.38 avg rating — 24 ratings
22.
Debt: The First 5,000 Years
Debt: The First 5,000 Years 4.21 avg rating — 25,622 ratings
24.
The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure
The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure 3.97 avg rating — 783 ratings
25.
The Rites of Passage
The Rites of Passage 3.89 avg rating — 675 ratings
26.
The Anthropological Lens: Harsh Light, Soft Focus
The Anthropological Lens: Harsh Light, Soft Focus 3.24 avg rating — 50 ratings
27.
Lesbian Sex Scandals: Sexual Practices, Identities, and Politics
Lesbian Sex Scandals: Sexual Practices, Identities, and Politics 4.25 avg rating — 4 ratings
28.
The Mexican-Americans of South Texas
The Mexican-Americans of South Texas 3.71 avg rating — 7 ratings
29.
An Introduction to Social Anthropology
An Introduction to Social Anthropology 3.61 avg rating — 23 ratings
30.
Bunyoro: An African Kingdom
Bunyoro: An African Kingdom 3.59 avg rating — 27 ratings
31.
Chronicle of the Guayaki Indians
Chronicle of the Guayaki Indians 3.96 avg rating — 307 ratings
31.
Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets
Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets 4.36 avg rating — 19,839 ratings
31.
From Samoa With Love?: Retracing the Footsteps
From Samoa With Love?: Retracing the Footsteps it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 4 ratings
31.
The Gift: The Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies
The Gift: The Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies 3.91 avg rating — 3,747 ratings
35.
The Evolution of Human Sexuality
The Evolution of Human Sexuality 4.22 avg rating — 96 ratings
35.
Tarara: Croats and Maori in New Zealand: Memory Belonging Identity
Tarara: Croats and Maori in New Zealand: Memory Belonging Identity 4.40 avg rating — 10 ratings
35.
Toward An Anthropological Theory of Value: The False Coin of Our Own Dreams
Toward An Anthropological Theory of Value: The False Coin of Our Own Dreams 4.10 avg rating — 397 ratings
35.
The Cocktail Waitress: Woman's Work in a Mans World
The Cocktail Waitress: Woman's Work in a Mans World 3.60 avg rating — 62 ratings
35.
When I Wear My Alligator Boots: Narco-Culture in the US-Mexico Borderlands
When I Wear My Alligator Boots: Narco-Culture in the US-Mexico Borderlands 4.25 avg rating — 226 ratings
35.
Weavers of Men and Women: Niuean Weaving and Its Social Implications
Weavers of Men and Women: Niuean Weaving and Its Social Implications it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 4 ratings
35.
Shamanism: The Timeless Religion
Shamanism: The Timeless Religion 4.02 avg rating — 64 ratings
42.
Sexual Meanings: The Cultural Construction of Gender and Sexuality
Sexual Meanings: The Cultural Construction of Gender and Sexuality 3.40 avg rating — 15 ratings
42.
You Owe Yourself a Drunk: An Ethnography of Urban Nomads
You Owe Yourself a Drunk: An Ethnography of Urban Nomads 3.96 avg rating — 78 ratings
42.
Geisha
Geisha 4.02 avg rating — 4,750 ratings
42.
Für fünfzig Pfennig um die Welt. Die Hagenbeckschen Völkerschauen
Für fünfzig Pfennig um die Welt. Die Hagenbeckschen Völkerschauen 3.33 avg rating — 3 ratings
46.
Kimono
Kimono 4.04 avg rating — 412 ratings
46.
Human Osteology
Human Osteology 4.56 avg rating — 376 ratings
48.
The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language
The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language 4.01 avg rating — 22,310 ratings
48.
The Sex Contract: The Evolution of Human Behavior
The Sex Contract: The Evolution of Human Behavior 3.90 avg rating — 113 ratings
50.
The Cultural Construction of Sexuality
The Cultural Construction of Sexuality really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 11 ratings
50.
Being Alive
Being Alive 4.19 avg rating — 181 ratings
50.
Origins
Origins 4.12 avg rating — 470 ratings
53.
The Myth of Race: The Troubling Persistence of an Unscientific Idea
The Myth of Race: The Troubling Persistence of an Unscientific Idea 4.09 avg rating — 452 ratings
54.
Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind
Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind 4.15 avg rating — 2,843 ratings
55.
Margaret Mead Made Me Gay: Personal Essays, Public Ideas (Series Q)
Margaret Mead Made Me Gay: Personal Essays, Public Ideas (Series Q) 3.93 avg rating — 70 ratings
55.
Bonobo: The Forgotten Ape
Bonobo: The Forgotten Ape 4.32 avg rating — 500 ratings
57.
Ethnic Identity: Cultural Continuities and Change
Ethnic Identity: Cultural Continuities and Change 3.75 avg rating — 8 ratings
57.
Primates and Philosophers: How Morality Evolved
Primates and Philosophers: How Morality Evolved 3.81 avg rating — 1,333 ratings
59.
Evolution and Culture
Evolution and Culture 4.08 avg rating — 24 ratings
59.
Culture, Health and Illness: An Introduction for Health Professionals
Culture, Health and Illness: An Introduction for Health Professionals 4.08 avg rating — 62 ratings
59.
Punctuated Equilibrium
Punctuated Equilibrium 4.07 avg rating — 183 ratings
62.
Neither Man Nor Woman: The Hijras of India
Neither Man Nor Woman: The Hijras of India 3.74 avg rating — 412 ratings
62.
The Devil and Commodity Fetishism in South America
The Devil and Commodity Fetishism in South America 3.96 avg rating — 477 ratings
62.
Ever Since Darwin: Reflections in Natural History
Ever Since Darwin: Reflections in Natural History 4.13 avg rating — 3,561 ratings
65.
Your Inner Fish: a Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body
Your Inner Fish: a Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body 4.04 avg rating — 28,100 ratings
66.
What Evolution Is (Science Masters Series)
What Evolution Is (Science Masters Series) 4.02 avg rating — 3,893 ratings
67.
The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature
The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature 4.05 avg rating — 17,202 ratings
68.
The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design
The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design 4.09 avg rating — 41,143 ratings
69.
Crime and Custom in Savage Society
Crime and Custom in Savage Society 3.79 avg rating — 238 ratings
69.
The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution
The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution 4.14 avg rating — 28,421 ratings
71.
Why Evolution Is True
Why Evolution Is True 4.19 avg rating — 25,752 ratings
72.
Homo Hierarchicus: The Caste System and its Implications
Homo Hierarchicus: The Caste System and its Implications 3.70 avg rating — 111 ratings
72.
Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals
Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals 3.99 avg rating — 1,291 ratings
74.
The Descent of Man
The Descent of Man 4.04 avg rating — 4,411 ratings
75.
Voyage of the Beagle
Voyage of the Beagle 4.02 avg rating — 8,291 ratings
76.
My Life with the Chimpanzees
My Life with the Chimpanzees 4.14 avg rating — 3,228 ratings
77.
The Selfish Gene
The Selfish Gene 4.16 avg rating — 189,063 ratings
78.
The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution
The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution 4.16 avg rating — 55,477 ratings
79.
Watching Lacandon Maya Lives
Watching Lacandon Maya Lives 4.12 avg rating — 17 ratings
80.
Art Forms in Nature
Art Forms in Nature 4.13 avg rating — 7,650 ratings