Cannibals and Kings: Origins of Cultures

By Marvin Harris

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

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Jul 13, 2011
• ISBN: 9780307801234

Marvin Harris

Marvin Harris is the author of sixteen books, among them Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches; Cannibals and Kings; and The Sacred Cow and the Abominable Pig. He was previously chairman of the Anthropology Department at Colombia University and Graduate Research Professor of Anthropology at the University of Florida. Harris passed away in October of 2001, shortly after retiring.

Reviews for Cannibals and Kings

[kittycunningh-815148 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read this for an Anthropology of Religion class at the College of Charleston. It was fun and easy to read.

[coffeezombie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Precursor to Jared Diamond's more extensive "Guns, Germs and Steal," Harris posits a form of cultural determinism that explains the development of different cultural forms through ecological forces. A potentially dry topic is made grimly fascinating by his combination of engaging prose, dry wit and eye for morbid turns of phrase.

[dinu_6 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very good book on the anthropology of culture.