Mountain People

This anthropological classic is important on a number of levels. Leading by example, Turnbull provides a lesson for anthropology students about the bravery required to embraces one's biases, instead of just pretending they do not exist. On a deeper level, he chronicles the disintegration of a culture through starvation to reveal the human nature that underlies all cultures. He describes, through the story of one people,... Read Full Review

This is a profoundly disturbing book. The author's reflections on what he saw of a completely disintegrated society - the Ik people of Africa are chilling. The ultimate implication is that human nature is not so tightly bound to inherent goodness as one might wish to think. The newspapers daily play out isolated, but ever more frequent stories of the Ik in our midst ... of the Ik within us all.ofs

Was course material that I dreaded initially, but after reading it, I could not stop thinking about the Ik, the changes overcoming their existence and their adaptation to their circumstances. Must tip my hat to Turnbull (now deceased) for a well written, can't put down book on a subject I had zero interest in prior to devouring it. 5 stars well deserved.

The Mountain People is the work of an anthropologist who spent two years studying the Ik, a small tribe in Uganda. This is an outstanding book that is easy to read and understand. A must read for any anthropology major. Knowledge of African geography is not essential to enjoying this book, but might be helpful if you are one who thrives on such details. In summary, I found his comparisons between the Ik and our own society... Read Full Review

The Ik, forced from a hunter-gatherer society to a sedentary existence in a drought-stricken, region not suited for agriculture, detriorate as a society into a collection of individuals whose main goal has become a quest for survival on a day-to-day basis. The author cites example after pathetic example of the deterioration of societal values, such as culture, religion, morals, as food becomes scarcer and scarcer and the people... Read Full Review