Brian M. Howell and Janell Paris joined forces to produce this second edition that looks at cultural anthropology from a Christian perspective. This textbook is of manageable length and is up-to-date on the issues that are considered by many to be in flux in our turbulent days. Though it is in a textbook format, it is quite easy to read no matter your reason for approaching the subject of anthropology. More than many textbooks I’ve seen, the authors share personal asides when appropriate, so it doesn’t come across as some dry textbook-by-committee approach.

The first chapter on the discipline of anthropology serves as an overall introduction to the subject. The next chapter tackles culture and a variety of issues that fall under that umbrella. The next several chapters explore main influencing subjects like language, social structure, gender, economics, authority, marriage, religion, and medical anthropology. As you can guess, chapters 4 and 5 enter the realm of the most hot-button issues of our day. I personally felt they did a better job looking at social structure and inequality in race, ethnicity, and class than they did surveying gender and sexuality. To be fair, they were only defining terms as they are now used though they made more allowances than I could. The last two chapters serve as a conclusion and even went as far as looking at anthropology in ministry.

The textbook is attractive though I would’ve probably preferred a hardback for this type of book. The chapters are laid out nicely. There’s a list of things you need to be able to do after you finish a chapter, clear introductions and explanation of key concepts with occasional graphs and insets that are enlightening. Each chapter nicely ends with a list of key terms, discussion questions, and what might be used as an assignment looking at real-life situations in a section entitled “Anthropology and Scripture”. All in all, this is a well put together textbook.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.