Books in the Routledge Classic Ethnographies series

This study pioneered the relation of the dynamics of the Maasai age organization to tensions within the family. Together, these provide the twin strands of a man's career, opposed ritually and reflecting a fundamental ambivalence in Maasai thought. This analysis is illustrated with case material from the Matapato: a typical Maasai group.

Based on Cohen's fieldwork in the 60s among the Hausa migrants, this is a landmark work in urban anthropology and provides a comparative framework for studying political processes in African societies.

The Samburu society of northern Kenya is a gerontocracy in which power rests with the older men. The tribe cling to their traditional way of life despite rapid changes throughout Africa. The author spent more than two years amongst the Samburu: he shows how their values and attitudes are closely interwoven with a social system that resists change.

"Hunger and Work in a Savage Tribe" examines the cultural aspects of food and eating among the Southern Bantu, taking as its starting point the bold statement "nutrition is a biological process more fundamental than sex".

Phyllis Kaberry examines the fullness of aboriginal women's lives, which has sometimes been classified as restricted and uninvolved with religious practice. She portrays her in a realistic light, as a complex social personality with her own duties, problems, beliefs, rituals and points of view.