This cultural, political, and social history of tea presents a " fascinating picture of tea's impact on the lives of millions of people around the world." ( Publishers Weekly)From Darjeeling to Lapsang Souchon, from India to Japan—a fresh, concise, world-encompassing exploration of the way tea has shaped politics, culture, and the environment throughout history. From the fourth century BC in China, where it was used as an aid in Buddhist m...

A JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY THROUGH JAPAN'S MULTI-FACETED CUSTOMS AND CULTURE'An excellent book for anyone with an interest in Japanese culture' Sunday Telegraph'Takes in everything from the mythical roots of sumo to the ubiquity of Shinto shrines' The TimesAlan Macfarlane first encountered Japan full of certainty, confidence and unexamined assumptions. He soon found his preconceptions challenged on every front - as generations of visiti...

In a frank and unpretentious series of letters addressed to a teenage granddaughter, this highly original book teaches us to know and understand the world we live in and its rules, and how to behave in it. In these thirty letters, Alan Macfarlane answers his granddaughter's questions about how the world works, how it got to be as it is, what it could be, and where she fits in. Lily's enquiries range from the intimate, personal and moral to the political, social and philosophical. What is t...

This is a classic regional and comparative study of early modern witchcraft. The history of witchcraft continues to attract attention with its emotive and contentious debates. The methodology and conclusions of this book have impacted not only on witchcraft studies but the entire approach to social and cultural history with its quantitative and anthropological approach. The book provides an important case study on Essex as well as drawing comparisons with other regions of early modern Engl...

The Science of Life: Andrew Huxley, Richard Keynes and Horace Barlow is part of the series Creative Lives and Works. It is a collection of interviews conducted by one of England’s leading social anthropologists and historians, Professor Alan Macfarlane. Filmed over a period of 40 years, the three conversations in this volume are part of a larger set of interviews that cut across various disciplines—from the social sciences, the sciences, to the performing and visual arts....

History, Culture and Ethnography: Jack Goody, Clifford Geertz and Philippe Descola is a collection of interviews that is being published as a book for the first time. These interviews have been conducted by one of England’s leading social anthropologists and historians, Professor Alan Macfarlane.Filmed over a period of several years, the three conversations in this volume are part of the series Creative Lives and Works. These transcriptions form a part of a larger set of i...

Imperialism and Colonialism: Christopher Bayly, Richard Rathbone and Richard Drayton is a collection of interviews that are being published as a book for the first time. These interviews have been conducted by one of England’s leading social anthropologists and historians, Professor Alan Macfarlane. Filmed over a period of several years, the three conversations in this volume are part of the series Creative Lives and Works. These transcriptions form a part of a larger set of inter...

Historical Ethnography and Peasant Societies: McKim Marriott, James Scott and Maurice Bloch is a collection of interviews that is being published as a book for the first time. These interviews have been conducted by a leading British social anthropologist and historian, Professor Alan Macfarlane. Filmed over a period of several years, the three conversations in this volume are a part of the series Creative Lives and Works. These transcriptions cut across various disciplin...

Creative Lives and Works: Raymond Firth, Audrey Richards, Lucy Mair, Meyer Fortes and Edmund Leach is a collection of interviews conducted by one of England’s leading social anthropologists and historians, Professor Alan Macfarlane. Filmed over a period of 40 years, the five conversations in this volume, are part of a larger set of interviews that cut across various disciplines, from the social sciences, the sciences to the performing and visual arts. The current volume on five of...

Law and Justice: Thomas Bingham, Nicholas Phillips and Eleanor Sharpston is the first time a collection of interviews is being published as a book. These interviews have been conducted by one of England’s leading social anthropologists and historians, Professor Alan Macfarlane.Filmed over a period of several years, the three conversations in this volume are part of the series Creative Lives and Works. These transcriptions also form part of a larger set of interviews that c...

Science and Religion: Edwin Salpeter, Owen Gingerich and John Polkinghorne is a collection of interviews being published as a book. These interviews have been conducted by one of England’s leading social anthropologists and historians, Professor Alan Macfarlane. Filmed over a period of 40 years, the five conversations in this volume, are part of Social Science Press’s series Creative Lives and Works. These transcriptions also form a part of a larger set of interviews that...

From Antiquity to Ethnography: Keith Thomas, Brian Harrison and Peter Burke is the first time a collection of these interviews is being published as a book. They have been conducted by one of England’s leading social anthropologists and historians, Professor Alan Macfarlane.Filmed over a period of several years, the three conversations in this volume are part of the series Creative Lives and Works. These transcriptions form a part a larger set of interviews that cut across...