Social & cultural anthropology

Apparently pointless ceremonies pervade every documented society, from handshakes to hexes, hazings to parades. Before we ever learned to farm, we were gathering in giant stone temples to perform elaborate rites and ceremonies. And yet, though rituals exist in every culture and can persist nearly...

This is the story of Operation Semut, an Australian secret military operation launched by the organisation popularly known as Z Special Unit in the final months of WWII. Christine Helliwell is a New Zealand-born anthropologist, author and academic, currently Emeritus Professor at the Australian N...

What are the origins of shamanism and what is its future? Do shamans believe in their powers? What exactly is trance? What can we learn from indigenous healing practices? In this enlightening book, anthropologist Manvir Singh offers a new explanation for one of the most misunderstood religious tr...

A celebration of oratory old and new, from the international bestselling author of }Letters Of Note{. It includes notable speeches from figures including; Roald Dahl, Emmeline Pankhurst, Dylan Thomas and Maya Angelou. ______________________A richly illustrated and wonderfully eclectic collection ...

For centuries, philosophers and scholars have described human behaviour in terms of sex, power and money. In 'The Status Game', author Will Storr radically turns this thinking on its head by arguing that it is our irrepressible craving for status that ultimately defines who we are.

A global history of work, an upbeat assessment from the age of the hunter-gatherer to the present day We work because we have to, but also because we like it: from hunting-gathering over 700,000 years ago to the present era of zoom meetings, humans have always worked to make the world around them...

Once demonised and still largely illegal, psychedelic drugs are now officially a 'breakthrough therapy', used to treat depression, trauma and addiction and to enhance well-being. But as neuropsychologist Andy Mitchell shows in this deeply serious yet wildly entertaining investigation, this approa...

'A fascinating and multilayered exploration of what it means to endure'Alex Hutchinson, author of EndureThe author of Out of Thin Air, winner of the Margaret Mead Award 2022, journeys through different cultures to find out the meaning of endurance.So many of us are embracing endurance sports - wh...

The idiosyncracies, foibles, eccentricities and awkward moments that make themselves apparent across British life are presented humorously based on original research through the @soverybritish Twitter account, with recurring themes including weather and divergence of opinion about tea-making prac...

An eye-opening book about how societies are designed to support the status of those in power at the destructive expense of those without it. Read it and take responsibility.