Decent beginning, but still flawed.

books:


	• Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History R. Jon McGee, Richard Warms McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages, 2007 - 684 pages average customer review:based on 10 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Decent beginning, but still flawed.

I used this text for an anthropological theories course in undergraduate work. It's a pretty decent collection of work from major figures in anthropology.

Spencer, Tylor, and Morgan, Levi-Strauss, Marx, Boas, etc, etc. There is also a lot of work done to try and tie a common thread through as much material as possible. Contextualization of how a theory came to be, and what it might imply are pretty well done. Chances are, you're buying this book for a class, rather than pleasure, and though this can be kind of dry, it's fairly well done. Some selections are puzzling in terms of what they illustrate for that author, but by and large it shouldn't kill you to read this book.

There are footnotes, too. These seem like a blessing to begin with, especially if you don't have much of a foothold in the material, there is a lot that you are caught up on quickly, and it can be very helpful. On the flipside, the editors can be very heavy-handed in guiding the reading, and can be sometimes inane in their commentary. This is the major failing of the book, it's more to read, and the later in the book you get, the less useful it is.

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Good book for Anthropology Theory

I bought this for my Theory in Anthropology class. It gives a good background of the theory of major contributors to cultural anthropological theory.

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Theory rocks?

How many times have you heard someone say "This is the best theory book ever!" Well, this time it is ture. This is one of the best, well rounded books I have read in a while. They give clear explanations of the theories, and then give you examples of the literature to apply it to. Their footnotes also help clarify points in the examples. I would recommend this to any serious anthropology major, or anyone interested in anthropology.

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Pertinent and probably 'fair'.

I bought this book as a textbook for a class of Anthropolocial Theory and Method. Except for the sociobiology section and Darwin, we read the majority of this work in class. I give this collection of original writings five stars because the commentary seems appropriate, as do the readings. I am greatful that McGee and Warms (over the objection of reviewers) inserted the E. O. Wilson material (sociobiology). I am also greatful that McGee and Warms pointed out the current attitudes toward: 1) Ruth Benedict Fulton and 2) Margaret Mead's Samoan work. I, in short, believe McGee and Warms give fair analysis. My perspective is as a graduate student in anthropology with an undergraduate degree in biology.

I can compare ANTHROPOLOGICAL THEORY to another compendium of original writings--Bohannan and Glazer's text which is no longer in print, High Points in Anthropology.

Bohannan and Glazer have no index!!! McGee and Warms have a 17-page index that is helpful.

The major change I would make to this book is probably a change that needs to be made to anthropological knowledge in general--I do not believe anthropologists (including McGee and Warms) understand evolution. Otherwise, there would be some additional commentary about "lineal evolution."

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reviews: page 1, 2

A comprehensive and accessible survey of the history of theory in anthropology, this anthology of classic and contemporary readings contains in-depth commentary in introductions and notes to help guide students through excerpts of seminal anthropological works. The commentary provides the background information needed to understand each article, its central concepts, and its relationship to the social and historical context in which it was written. Six of the 45 articles are new to this edition.

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