Origins of the State and Civilization: The Process of Cultural Evolution

by Elman Rogers Service and Service R. Elman

Book Overview

How did civilized life begin? How did government arise? These questions have intrigued philosophers and historians since ancient times. In this volume, Elman R. Service, an anthropologist widely known... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393055477
• ISBN13: 9780393055474
• Release Date: January 1975
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 361 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Complementary readings to Elman's interesting book

I will only point out that, when I found this book I decide it to give it a chance, in despite of not finding previous comments on it. I was surprised that no one else had made a comment before to this masterful work, which, in my opinion, is enlightening. Perhaps, because of the author's style, the book is no very engaging, but it is not dry either. In any event I think that the professional historian and the educated layperson alike can savour it. So I add my review, my rate being between 5 (content) and 3 (pleasure, sometimes falling to 2, sometimes raising to 4). I highly recommend it. Other interesting books dealing with the STATE that I would recommend would be the following: 1) "War in Human Civilization" by Azar Gat (war explained, not just narrated); 2) "How War Began" by Keith F. Otterbein; 3) "Understanding Early Civilizations" by Bruce Trigger (a great comparative review of early civilizations); 4) "History of Government" by S.E. Finer; and 5) Political Thought: 5.1. and 5.2: "The West and Islam. Religion and Political Thought in World History" plus "A World History of Ancient Political Thought" by Antony Black Additionally, for those looking for a broad framework to understand the past, I would also suggest reading the following works, whose scope is as amazingly global as Elman's: a) Agrarian cultures: "Pre-industrial societies" by Patricia Crone; b) Economy: "The world economy. A millennial perspective" (2001) plus "The world economy: Historical Statistics" (2003) by Angus Maddison (a combined edition of these two volumes appeared on December 2007); c) Ideas: "Ideas, a History from Fire to Freud", by Peter Watson; and d) Religion: "The Phenomenon of Religion: A Thematic Approach" by Moojan Momen.