People and Places

by Margaret Mead

318 page yellow illustrated hardcover book with cover design. Publisher-The World Publishing Company in 1959-Stated First Edition. Chapter headings-Man Learns About Man, How Some Peoples Live, Man Asks About Man.

Genres: Anthropology, Nonfiction

217 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 1959

About the author

Margaret Mead was an American cultural anthropologist who was frequently a featured writer and speaker in the mass media throughout the '60s and '70s as a popularizer of the insights of anthropology into modern American and western life but also a respected, if controversial, academic anthropologist.

Her reports as to the purportedly healthy attitude towards sex in South Pacific and Southeast Asian traditional cultures amply informed the '60s "sexual revolution" and it was only at the end of her life and career that her propositions were – albeit controversially – challenged by a maverick fellow anthropologist and literate members of societies she had long before studied and reported on. Mead was a champion of broadened sexual mores within a context of traditional western religious life.

Excerpted from Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Ella · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great introduction to anthropology for children. Some things mentioned in the text are outdated, but the approachable, conversational tone of the book was wonderful to relay the idea of what it means to study humans and to be human.

[Ken Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Not related to KJ above that I know of. Haven't read this yet, unless maybe in college a very long time ago. The three stars are just a placeholder for in case I ever do read it.)

Described by the publisher as "a vivid, penetrating portrait of the societies and cultures of ancient, primitive and modern man." How men of different cultures and times have managed to meet the challenges of human existence. Eskimos, Plains In dians, Balinese, Ashanti, Minoans.

What anthropologists have learned about man by studying the primitive people still living in the world today.

[ساسان عاصی · Rating 2 out of 5]

کتاب رو دوست نداشتم و از خوندنش لذتی نبردم (فکر نمی‌کردم قراره بعد از خوندنش انسان‌شناس بشم :)) اما خب انتظار داشتم جزئیات بیشتری درباره‌ی اقوامی که معرفی کرد یا به‌طور کلی «آدمیان و سرزمین‌ها» ارائه بده!). به خاطر بی‌دانشی‌م درباره‌ی موضوع کتاب مجبورم خیلی کلی نظر بدم. این رو هم اضافه کنم که به‌نظرم موضع نویسنده بیش از حد "سفیدپوست آمریکایی"طور بود. :)) به‌هرحال، و با تمام این حرف‌ها، گمانم خوندنش برای خیلی جوان‌ترها، به‌خصوص نوجوان‌ها، خالی از لطف نباشه. به‌طور کلی چیزی برای یاد گرفتن داشت، احتمالاً اگر مثل من کاملاً در این زمینه بی‌سواد باشید. :))‏

[Magda · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy-to-read introduction to anthropology that, as it was written in 1959, uses some antiquated terminology, while presenting principles that apply to how we as human beings look at the world and the people around us.
Originally a young adult book, as I learnt in reading the entire back of the cover, and which explains the tone.
Has insightful case studies of five different people groups around the world (Eskimos, Plain Indians – Blackfoot & Cheyenne, Ashanti, Balinese, Minoans).

[KJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the 'case studies' of the various cultures she has studied. The rest of the book was a bit slow though.