Best Popular Anthropology Books on Goodreads (325 books)

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Best Popular Anthropology Books on Goodreads

For purposes of this list, only include books with over 999 ratings and shelved at least 30 times as anthropology.

Anything with less than 1000 ratings or shelved less than 30 times as anthropology will be removed and without comment.

See also:
Popular Archaeology and Paleoanthropology
Good Ethnography
Forensic Anthropology

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1	Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond 4.04 avg rating — 466,380 ratings score: 1,094, and 11 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
2	Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari 4.33 avg rating — 1,299,768 ratings score: 891, and 9 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
3	Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond 3.94 avg rating — 75,324 ratings score: 681, and 7 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
4	Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber 4.21 avg rating — 27,804 ratings score: 566, and 6 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
5	From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty 4.29 avg rating — 47,793 ratings score: 479, and 5 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
6	Kon-Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl 4.16 avg rating — 25,518 ratings score: 473, and 5 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
7	The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by Anne Fadiman 4.21 avg rating — 90,292 ratings score: 387, and 4 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
8	1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann 4.05 avg rating — 97,006 ratings score: 386, and 4 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
9	A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson 4.22 avg rating — 430,234 ratings score: 385, and 4 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
10	The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell 4.26 avg rating — 54,324 ratings score: 378, and 4 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
11	Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind by Donald C. Johanson 4.15 avg rating — 2,887 ratings score: 350, and 4 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
12	Bullshit Jobs: A Theory by David Graeber 4.02 avg rating — 35,979 ratings score: 341, and 4 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
13	Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach 4.06 avg rating — 245,152 ratings score: 300, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
14	The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber 4.19 avg rating — 27,776 ratings score: 294, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
15	The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann (Goodreads Author) 3.90 avg rating — 113,462 ratings score: 291, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
16	Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology by David Graeber 4.23 avg rating — 3,566 ratings score: 287, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
17	Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed by James C. Scott 4.21 avg rating — 7,195 ratings score: 285, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
18	The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State by Friedrich Engels 4.14 avg rating — 8,323 ratings score: 283, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
19	The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth by Robert Graves 4.02 avg rating — 3,660 ratings score: 278, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
20	The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell 4.12 avg rating — 45,832 ratings score: 272, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
20	Guests of the Sheik: An Ethnography of an Iraqi Village by Elizabeth Warnock Fernea 4.12 avg rating — 3,281 ratings score: 272, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
20	The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future by Riane Eisler 4.19 avg rating — 4,362 ratings score: 272, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
23	1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created by Charles C. Mann 4.12 avg rating — 21,359 ratings score: 269, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
24	Tristes Tropiques by Claude Lévi-Strauss 4.14 avg rating — 4,258 ratings score: 267, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
25	Orientalism by Edward W. Said 4.14 avg rating — 30,720 ratings score: 264, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
26	Coming of Age in Samoa: A Psychological Study of Primitive Youth for Western Civilisation by Margaret Mead 3.55 avg rating — 3,248 ratings score: 258, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
27	Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux by John G. Neihardt 4.12 avg rating — 19,002 ratings score: 249, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
28	The Mismeasure of Man by Stephen Jay Gould 4.06 avg rating — 9,396 ratings score: 247, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
29	The Songlines by Bruce Chatwin 3.96 avg rating — 12,621 ratings score: 232, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
30	In the Shadow of Man by Jane Goodall 4.37 avg rating — 9,619 ratings score: 229, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
31	The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge by Jeremy Narby 4.17 avg rating — 7,706 ratings score: 227, and 3 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
32	Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice: An Ethnobotanist Searches for New Medicines in the Rain Forest by Mark J. Plotkin 4.28 avg rating — 2,075 ratings score: 198, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
32	The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World by David Abram 4.17 avg rating — 5,528 ratings score: 198, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
34	Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo 3.98 avg rating — 118,399 ratings score: 197, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
34	Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman (Goodreads Author) 4.32 avg rating — 83,516 ratings score: 197, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
36	Our Inner Ape: A Leading Primatologist Explains Why We Are Who We Are by Frans de Waal 4.20 avg rating — 4,446 ratings score: 196, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
36	The Phenomenon of Man by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin 4.05 avg rating — 1,737 ratings score: 196, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
38	Magicians of the Gods: The Forgotten Wisdom of Earth's Lost Civilization by Graham Hancock (Goodreads Author) 4.17 avg rating — 6,955 ratings score: 195, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
39	Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall 4.30 avg rating — 237,605 ratings score: 194, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
39	Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari 4.18 avg rating — 292,615 ratings score: 194, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
39	Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times by Elizabeth Wayland Barber 4.31 avg rating — 3,079 ratings score: 194, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
39	Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell 4.19 avg rating — 880,746 ratings score: 194, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
43	Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches: The Riddles of Culture by Marvin Harris 3.92 avg rating — 5,305 ratings score: 191, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
43	Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and Their Journey (Vintage Departures) by Isabel Fonseca 3.93 avg rating — 4,082 ratings score: 191, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
45	The Social Conquest of Earth by Edward O. Wilson 4.02 avg rating — 4,349 ratings score: 188, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
46	The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin 4.01 avg rating — 123,595 ratings score: 184, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
46	The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston (Goodreads Author) 3.93 avg rating — 64,014 ratings score: 184, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
48	Severed: A History of Heads Lost and Heads Found by Frances Larson 3.75 avg rating — 1,876 ratings score: 183, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
49	Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality by Christopher Ryan (Goodreads Author) 3.97 avg rating — 32,011 ratings score: 182, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
50	The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge by Carlos Castaneda 3.93 avg rating — 45,771 ratings score: 179, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
51	Peoplewatching: The Desmond Morris Guide to Body Language by Desmond Morris 4.06 avg rating — 1,448 ratings score: 178, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
52	The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language by Steven Pinker (Goodreads Author) 4.01 avg rating — 22,682 ratings score: 176, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
52	The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution by Richard Dawkins (Goodreads Author) 4.15 avg rating — 28,938 ratings score: 176, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
52	Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex among Apes by Frans de Waal 4.27 avg rating — 2,060 ratings score: 176, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
52	Argonauts of the Western Pacific by Bronisław Malinowski 3.76 avg rating — 1,472 ratings score: 176, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
56	The Gift: The Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies by Marcel Mauss 3.90 avg rating — 3,909 ratings score: 175, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
56	Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human by Richard W. Wrangham 3.88 avg rating — 4,153 ratings score: 175, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
56	The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan (Goodreads Author) 4.19 avg rating — 211,567 ratings score: 175, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
56	Suicide: A Study in Sociology by Émile Durkheim 3.85 avg rating — 4,678 ratings score: 175, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
60	The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined by Steven Pinker (Goodreads Author) 4.16 avg rating — 29,871 ratings score: 174, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
60	The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence by Carl Sagan 4.19 avg rating — 21,691 ratings score: 174, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
60	A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race and Human History by Nicholas Wade 3.74 avg rating — 1,588 ratings score: 174, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
63	Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison by Michel Foucault 4.23 avg rating — 37,807 ratings score: 172, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
64	The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker (Goodreads Author) 4.09 avg rating — 25,547 ratings score: 171, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
64	The Unfolding of Language: An Evolutionary Tour of Mankind's Greatest Invention by Guy Deutscher 4.22 avg rating — 4,127 ratings score: 171, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
66	Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism by Benedict Anderson 4.11 avg rating — 16,765 ratings score: 170, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
66	Your Inner Fish: a Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body by Neil Shubin (Goodreads Author) 4.04 avg rating — 29,509 ratings score: 170, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
66	Who We Are and How We Got Here: Ancient DNA and the New Science of the Human Past by David Reich 4.14 avg rating — 6,241 ratings score: 170, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
66	Wisdom Sits in Places: Landscape and Language Among the Western Apache by Keith H. Basso 4.19 avg rating — 1,807 ratings score: 170, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
70	The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal by Jared Diamond 4.09 avg rating — 28,914 ratings score: 169, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
70	The Elementary Forms of Religious Life by Émile Durkheim 3.93 avg rating — 3,820 ratings score: 169, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
72	Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger (Goodreads Author) 4.02 avg rating — 50,423 ratings score: 168, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
73	Cannibals and Kings: Origins of Cultures by Marvin Harris 4.09 avg rating — 1,776 ratings score: 167, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
74	Chrysanthemum and the Sword: Patterns of Japanese Culture by Ruth Benedict 3.85 avg rating — 4,300 ratings score: 165, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
74	Patterns of Culture by Ruth Benedict 3.82 avg rating — 1,664 ratings score: 165, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
76	The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey by Spencer Wells 4.07 avg rating — 1,629 ratings score: 162, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
77	Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst by Robert M. Sapolsky 4.37 avg rating — 33,325 ratings score: 161, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
78	The 10000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution by Gregory Cochran 3.95 avg rating — 1,864 ratings score: 160, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
78	The Anthropology of Turquoise: Reflections on Desert, Sea, Stone, and Sky by Ellen Meloy 4.02 avg rating — 1,979 ratings score: 160, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
80	The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies? by Jared Diamond 3.78 avg rating — 11,231 ratings score: 159, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
81	A Separate Reality: Further Conversations with Don Juan by Carlos Castaneda 4.09 avg rating — 19,290 ratings score: 158, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
82	The Interpretation of Cultures by Clifford Geertz 4.11 avg rating — 3,897 ratings score: 156, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
83	Nations and Nationalism by Ernest Gellner 3.83 avg rating — 1,772 ratings score: 155, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
84	Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche by Ethan Watters 4.09 avg rating — 4,456 ratings score: 153, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
85	Things Fall Apart (The African Trilogy, #1) by Chinua Achebe 3.75 avg rating — 420,699 ratings score: 152, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
85	Anatomy of Love: A Natural History of Mating, Marriage, and Why We Stray by Helen Fisher 3.88 avg rating — 1,997 ratings score: 152, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
87	Fingerprints of the Gods: The Evidence of Earth's Lost Civilization by Graham Hancock (Goodreads Author) 4.16 avg rating — 15,762 ratings score: 151, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
87	Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America (America: A Cultural History, Vol. I) by David Hackett Fischer 4.38 avg rating — 3,650 ratings score: 151, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
89	The Golden Bough by James George Frazer 4.02 avg rating — 8,774 ratings score: 146, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
90	The Seven Daughters of Eve: The Science That Reveals Our Genetic Ancestry by Bryan Sykes really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 7,684 ratings score: 144, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
90	Myths to Live By by Joseph Campbell 4.16 avg rating — 7,156 ratings score: 144, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
92	Totem and Taboo by Sigmund Freud 3.85 avg rating — 11,612 ratings score: 142, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
93	A Primate's Memoir: A Neuroscientist's Unconventional Life Among the Baboons by Robert M. Sapolsky 4.39 avg rating — 9,052 ratings score: 141, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
94	The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences by Michel Foucault 4.12 avg rating — 9,707 ratings score: 137, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
95	The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion by Mircea Eliade 4.11 avg rating — 9,353 ratings score: 134, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
96	Dead Men Do Tell Tales: The Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist by William R. Maples 4.05 avg rating — 6,671 ratings score: 128, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
97	The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous by Joseph Henrich 4.13 avg rating — 4,518 ratings score: 126, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
97	Social and Cultural Anthropology: A Very Short Introduction by John Monaghan 3.68 avg rating — 1,297 ratings score: 126, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
97	The Nuer: A Description of the Modes of Livelihood and Political Institutions of a Nilotic People by E.E. Evans-Pritchard 3.47 avg rating — 1,068 ratings score: 126, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
100	Mules and Men by Zora Neale Hurston 4.10 avg rating — 6,533 ratings score: 124, and 2 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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325 books · 47 voters · list created December 20th, 2015 by Mitchell Friedman (votes) .

Tags: 1000, anthropology, mjf, mjf-topic-list, most-rated, popular, ratings

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message 1: by Lulu (new)

Aug 18, 2018 05:19PM

I am a recent anthropology graduate and I think that this list is superb.

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message 2: by Mitchell (last edited Aug 18, 2018 08:37PM) (new)

Aug 18, 2018 08:33PM

Lucinda wrote: "I am a recent anthropology graduate and I think that this list is superb."

I'm glad you appreciate it. I haven't checked /shelf/show/anthropology in awhile. Hopefully there are additional books that could be added to this list as well.

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message 3: by Mitchell (last edited May 22, 2024 10:27AM) (new)

May 21, 2024 05:49PM

I increased the minimum number of shelves of anthropology from 10 to 30. And also removed the restriction on being nonfiction. This will limit the possible books to 440 as of 2024-05-21. Currently this list has 302 books. And I was able to add 60 books. So as of 2024-05-22 it is 362.

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message 4: by Mitchell (new)

May 18, 2026 08:11PM