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In this brilliant and profound study the distinguished American anthropologist Marvin Harris shows how the endless varieties of cultural behavior -- often so puzzling at first glance -- can be explained as adaptations to particular ecological conditions. His aim is to account for the evolution of cultural forms as Darwin accounted for the evolution of biological forms: to show how cultures adopt their characteristic forms in response to changing ecological modes. "[A] magisterial interpretation of the rise and fall of human cultures and societies." -- Robert Lekachman, Washington Post Book World "Its persuasive arguments asserting the primacy of cultural rather than genetic or psychological factors in human life deserve the widest possible audience." -- Gloria Levitas The New Leader "[An] original and...urgent theory about the nature of man and at the reason that human cultures take so many diverse shapes." -- The New Yorker "Lively and controversial." -- I. Bernard Cohen, front page, The New York Times Book Review
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Cannibals and Kings, Marvin Harris
- Language
- Released
- 1978
- product-detail.submit-box.info.binding
- (Hardcover)
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- Title
- Cannibals and Kings
- Subtitle
- The Origins of Cultures
- Language
- English
- Authors
- Marvin Harris
- Publisher
- HarperCollins
- Released
- 1978
- Format
- Hardcover
- ISBN10
- 0002161206
- ISBN13
- 9780002161206
- Series
- Tags
- Non-Fiction, Social Sciences, Historical Themes, History, Science, Culture and Society, Sociology, Anthropology, Cultural History, Vegetarianism, Civilization, Cannibalism
- Original title
- Cannibals and kings
- Rating
- 4.05 out of 5
- Description
- In this brilliant and profound study the distinguished American anthropologist Marvin Harris shows how the endless varieties of cultural behavior -- often so puzzling at first glance -- can be explained as adaptations to particular ecological conditions. His aim is to account for the evolution of cultural forms as Darwin accounted for the evolution of biological forms: to show how cultures adopt their characteristic forms in response to changing ecological modes. "[A] magisterial interpretation of the rise and fall of human cultures and societies." -- Robert Lekachman, Washington Post Book World "Its persuasive arguments asserting the primacy of cultural rather than genetic or psychological factors in human life deserve the widest possible audience." -- Gloria Levitas The New Leader "[An] original and...urgent theory about the nature of man and at the reason that human cultures take so many diverse shapes." -- The New Yorker "Lively and controversial." -- I. Bernard Cohen, front page, The New York Times Book Review