This companion volume to anthropologist Colin Turnbull's The Forest People tells the gruesome tale of what happens to a tribal people - the Ik of Uganda - who have been dispossessed of their land. It describes the dehumanization and social collapse of a people who, a few decades ago, were a society of hunters and gatherers; they are now on the verge of extinction. The author draws parallels with western society, coming to the conclusion that our much vaunted civilized values are not inherent in humanity but are a luxury all too readily cast aside.