Victorian Anthropology

by George W. Stocking Jr.

Book Overview

In this fascinating and erudite work, George Stocking, America's most renowned historian of anthropology, probes the Victorian origins of contemporary thought on human social and cultural evolution.

George Stocking examines the portrayal of primitive peoples by Victorian travellers and missionaries. He shows how their attitudes towards the dark-skinned savages corresponded to their view of the proletarian masses produced by the Industrial Revolution.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0029315514
• ISBN13: 9780029315514
• Release Date: September 1991
• Publisher: Free Press
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 1.52 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.6" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A great book goes out of print..

I had Stocking as a professor, and we read this book in his course on British anthropology. This is probably my single favorite book on anthropology, and I can't believe it has gone out of print! Anyway, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in cultural anthropology. More importantly, to students & professors interested in the formative years of anthropology, and ethnography, this book is a must own. Stocking's other books are not bad, although they tend to be collections of essays and are rather hit or miss, depending on your interests. Victorian Anthropology is his magnum opus. Hopefully it gets reissued one day.

Life Before Darwin

Stocking's "Victorian Anthropolgy" proves that there was life before Darwin. The book begins with an overview of anthropological theories, both in England and in Europe, and examines how political influences determined which of these were accepted by English scholars. Fixed firmly in the context of Victorian England, Stocking clearly shows the extent to which anthropological treatises influenced not only scientific thought but also social policy. An informative and enlightening book, "Victorian Anthropology" would be particularly useful to students of British cultural and/or anthropological history.