Written by leading scholars in the field, this comprehensive and readable resource gives anthropology students a unique guide to the ideas, arguments and history of the discipline. Combining anthropological theory and ethnography, it includes 275 substantial entries, over 300 short biographies of important figures in anthropology, and nearly 600 glossary items. The fully revised and expanded second edition reflects major changes in anthropology in the past decade.

Alan Barnard is Professor of the Anthropology of Southern Africa at the University of Edinburgh, and a Fellow of the British Academy.

Jonathan Spencer is Professor of the Anthropology of South Asia at the University of Edinburgh, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.