About the book
“A study of primitive people which, for beauty of . . . style and concept, would be hard to match.” —The New York Times Book Review
In the 1950s Elizabeth Marshall Thomas became one of the first Westerners to live with the Bushmen of the Kalahari desert in Botswana and South-West Africa. Her account of these nomadic hunter-gatherers, whose way of life had remained unchanged for thousands of years, is a ground-breaking work of anthropology, remarkable not only for its scholarship but for its novelistic grasp of character. On the basis of field trips in the 1980s, Thomas has now updated her book to show what happened to the Bushmen as the tide of industrial civilization—with its flotsam of property rights, wage labor, and alcohol—swept over them. The result is a powerful, elegiac look at an endangered culture as well as a provocative critique of our own.
\"The charm of this book is that the author can so truly convey the strangeness of the desert life in which we perceive human traits as familiar as our own. . . . The Harmless People is a model of exposition: the style very simple and precise, perfectly suited to the neat, even fastidious activities of a people who must make their world out of next to nothing.\" —The Atlantic
Editions of The Harmless People
- Hardcover
- ISBN 9780394427799
- Paperback
- ISBN 9780679724469
- EBook
- ISBN 9780307772954
Read an Excerpt
“A study of primitive people which, for beauty of . . . style and concept, would be hard to match.” —The New York Times Book Review
In the 1950s Elizabeth Marshall Thomas became one of the first Westerners to live with the Bushmen of the Kalahari desert in Botswana and South-West Africa. Her account of these nomadic hunter-gatherers, whose way of life had remained unchanged for thousands of years, is a ground-breaking work of anthropology, remarkable not only for its scholarship but for its novelistic grasp of character. On the basis of field trips in the 1980s, Thomas has now updated her book to show what happened to the Bushmen as the tide of industrial civilization—with its flotsam of property rights, wage labor, and alcohol—swept over them. The result is a powerful, elegiac look at an endangered culture as well as a provocative critique of our own.
\"The charm of this book is that the author can so truly convey the strangeness of the desert life in which we perceive human traits as familiar as our own. . . . The Harmless People is a model of exposition: the style very simple and precise, perfectly suited to the neat, even fastidious activities of a people who must make their world out of next to nothing.\" —The Atlantic
Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Harmless People about?
“A study of primitive people which, for beauty of . . . style and concept, would be hard to match.” —The New York Times Book Review
In the 1950s Elizabeth Marshall Thomas became one of the first Westerners to live with the Bushmen of the Kalahari desert in Botswana and South-West Africa. Her account of these nomadic hunter-gatherers, whose way of life had remained unchanged for thousands of years, is a ground-breaking work of anthropology, remarkable not only for its scholarship but for its novelistic grasp of character. On the basis of field trips in the 1980s, Thomas has now updated her book to show what happened to the Bushmen as the tide of industrial civilization—with its flotsam of property rights, wage labor, and alcohol—swept over them. The result is a powerful, elegiac look at an endangered culture as well as a provocative critique of our own.
\"The charm of this book is that the author can so truly convey the strangeness of the desert life in which we perceive human traits as familiar as our own. . . . The Harmless People is a model of exposition: the style very simple and precise, perfectly suited to the neat, even fastidious activities of a people who must make their world out of next to nothing.\" —The Atlantic
What core themes, tropes, or subjects are explored in The Harmless People?
Society and Social Sciences > Sociology and anthropology > Anthropology > Social and cultural anthropology
Where can I read a sample of The Harmless People?
You can read an official preview of the few pages here https://www.book2look.com/book/9780394427799
Who is/are the Author/s of the book The Harmless People?
Elizabeth Marshall Thomas
What are the ISBN numbers for the physical and digital editions?
The Harmless People is available as hardcover(ISBN 9780394427799) and paperback(ISBN 9780679724469) and ebook(ISBN 9780307772954)
Where can I buy The Harmless People online or support local independent bookshops?
You can buy The Harmless People from below
Where can I buy The Harmless People?