Savages and Civilization Who Will Survive?

In Indian Givers and Native Roots, renowned anthropologist Jack Weatherford opened the eyes of tens of thousands of readers to the clash between Native American and European cultures. Now, in his brilliant new book, Weatherford broadens his focus to examine how civilization threatens to obliterate unique tribal and ethnic cultures around the world -- and in the process imperils its own existence. As Weatherford explains, the relationship between "civilized" and "savage" peoples through history has encompassed not only violence, but also a surprising degree of cooperation, mutual influence, trade, and intermarriage. But this relationship has now entered a critical stage everywhere in the world, as indigenous peoples fiercely resist the onslaught of a global civilization that will obliterate their identities. Savages and Civilization powerfully demonstrates that our survival as a species is based not on a choice between savages and civilization, but rather on a commitment to their vital coexistence.

Jack Weatherford is the New York Times bestselling author of Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Americas Transformed the World, The Secret History of the Mongol Queens, and The History of Money, among other acclaimed books. A specialist in tribal peoples, he was for many years a professor of anthropology at Macalester College in Minnesota and now divides his time between the United States and Mongolia.