Because of the increasing breadth and complexity of the field, texts for introductory-level, general anthropology courses (so-called four-field courses) have tended to become longer and more detailed. This places a burden on instructors using these texts and, more importantly, on students reading them to learn about the field. This book is short and with a tightly managed amount of detail. It also uses a narrative approach (that is, explaining its topics through a clear sequence of ideas), which is more user-friendly to students. At the same time, no traditional topic in anthropology is left out.