The Imperial Animal

by Lionel Tiger (Editor)

Overview

The Imperial Animal offers a compelling perspective on the controversy over humans and their biology. This now-classic study is about the social bonds that hold us together and the antisocial theories that drive us apart. The authors divulge how the evolutionary past of the species, reflected in genetic codes, determines our present and coerces our future. This book gives us a direct and intimate look at how we see ourselves. It offers insight into our politics, our ways of learning and teaching, reproducing and producing, playing and fighting.

The authors assert that the purpose of this book is twofold: to describe what is known about the evolution of human behavior, and then to try to show how the consequences of this evolution affect our behavior today. To do this they draw from numerous disciplines—zoology, biology, history, and primatology, among others. In the new introduction, Tiger and Fox outline then- reasons for originally writing the book as well as the process they used to do their research. The Imperial Animal is a classic work that will continue to be of interest to sociologists, zoologists, biologists, and primatologists.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781560009627
Publisher:	Transaction Publishers
Publication date:	01/30/1997
Series:	Owl Books Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	337
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

R. Robin Miller

Table of Contents

1: Beginning Biogrammar; 2: Political Nature; 3: Bond Issue One: Women and Children First; 4: Bond Issue Two: Man to Man; 5: Give and Take; 6: The Benign Oppression; 7: Good Grooming; 8: The Noble Savage; 9: The City of Man

Editorial Reviews

True to the broadest mandate of their discipline, the authors have sought to bridge the biological and cultural dimensions of man.... The result is one of the most creative contributions in the social science literature. It is also superlative writing...an impressive tour de force, and I highly recommend it.” —B. J. Siegel, Saturday Review “The Imperial Animal contains items of interest to those with a general knowledge of ethology, and some perceptive insights into modern social problems.” —C. E. S. Franks, Canadian Journal of Political Science “Four years have elapsed since the publication of The Imperial Animal by Lionel Tiger and Robin Fox. The broad readership it has received attests to the high quality of its authors’ prose. It is entertainingly written, witty and cogent.” —Margaret Sery Young, Contemporary Sociology “Tiger and Fox’s writing is interesting and lively…. [The Imperial Animal] is an interesting synthesis and a humane one. It is… far more successful as a discussion of human behavior patterns than any previous book written in this genre, and may be read with much profit by zoologists and social scientists.” —John F. Eisenberg, Science "Thoughtfully composed, intriguingly written." —Los Angeles Times "An engaging, literate, and original analysis of human nature." —San Francisco Chronicle “The rebirth of The Imperial Animal is welcome from both a scientific and historical perspective. It is a genuine classic in the study of human behavior, a pioneering treatment of the relation between biology and culture.” —Edward O. Wilson, Pellegrino University Professor Emeritus "Explodes a bomb of sanity and reason.... This should be the first book to convince the unconvincable concerning the animal nature of man and society." —Robert Ardrey "Lionel Tiger and Robin Fox are two brilliant anthropologists who in this fascinating volume have set out to show the unbroken continuity that exists between the behaviour of our monkey and ape relations and our own." —Ashley Montagu “To read [this book] is a tremendously thought-provoking experience. I am happy to know that The Imperial Animal is again available to inspire those who are searching to understand the connections between the social sciences and biology.” —Margaret Gruter, founder and president, Gruter Institute for Law and Behavioral Research

From the Publisher