Best Anthropology Books of 2025

Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond is a Pulitzer Prize-winning book that presents a comprehensive narrative of human history, debunking racist theories and revealing the environmental factors responsible for the broadest patterns. Diamond examines why Eurasians conquered, displaced, or decimated Native Americans, Australians, and Africans, instead of the reverse. The book offers an insightful analysis of the developmental paths of human societies, their differing fates, and how the modern world, and its inequalities, came to be. This artful, informative, and delightful book is a major landmark in our understanding of human societies and culture.

Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America is a fascinating book that explores the cultural origins of the United States. The author argues that while most Americans today may not have British ancestors, they have assimilated regional cultures created by British colonists. The book's concluding section explains how regional cultures have continued to dominate national politics and shape attitudes toward education, government, gender, and violence. The author's research and analysis are impressive, and the book is written with clarity and includes numerous drawings and maps. Overall, it is an engrossing work that offers readers a mirror to discover the persistence of their heritage.

Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples is a thought-provoking book that examines the relationship between imperialism and research, particularly how imperialism is entrenched in disciplines of knowledge and tradition as "regimes of truth." Linda Tuhiwai, the author, argues that decolonizing research methods is crucial to reclaiming control over indigenous ways of knowing and being. The third edition includes contributions from indigenous scholars, a chapter featuring twenty-five indigenous projects, and a collection of poetry. This book is a must-read for those interested in cultural anthropology and indigenous studies.

The Fall of Public Man by Richard Sennett is a compelling study of the changing nature of public culture and urban society. The author investigates the causes of our declining involvement in political life, spanning over two centuries of Western sociopolitical evolution. Sennett's analysis of the danger of the cult of individualism remains relevant to our current world. The book's new epilogue extends the author's examination to the new "public" realm of social media, questioning how public culture has fared since the digital revolution. The Fall of Public Man is a thought-provoking read that challenges readers to consider the importance of a formal public culture in contemporary society.

The Common Core Companion: The Standards Decoded, Grades 3-5 is a valuable resource for upper-elementary teachers looking to incorporate research-based practices into their teaching. Leslie Blauman provides a road map for translating each and every standard into day-to-day teaching, with more than a dozen teaching ideas for each standard. The book also includes a glossary of academic language for each standard and an online bank of graphic organizers, reproducibles, charts, and more. Blauman's experience and expertise shine through in this practical guide, which will help teachers cultivate critical habits of mind and promote lifelong, literate, thoughtful readers and thinkers. Overall, a highly recommended addition to any teacher's library.

Birth of a White Nation, Second Edition is a thought-provoking examination of the social construction of race in America. The book surveys colonial North American law and history, interrogating the origins of racial inequality and injustice in American society. The author details how the invention of white people still serves to protect the ruling elite to the present day. This book is an important resource for anyone seeking to understand the key developments that have kept us from being a united nation. The new edition addresses the ongoing production and reproduction of whiteness as a distinct and dominant social category, offering a new framework for countering racial inequality and promoting greater awareness of anti-racist policies and practices.

Understanding Human Evolution is a concise and informative book that sheds light on the complex and fascinating story of human evolution. The author, Ian Tattersall, presents a modern view of human evolution, separating the history of paleoanthropology from current interpretation of the human fossil record. He explains the evolutionary process and the technologies used to unravel the evolutionary past and emergence of Homo sapiens. The book also presents a coherent scenario for how Homo sapiens became an extraordinary and unprecedented thinking creature. Overall, Understanding Human Evolution is an engaging read that provides readers with a comprehensive understanding of human evolution and the current state of research in the field of physical anthropology.

Heather Cox Richardson's "How the South Won the Civil War" is a thought-provoking book that delves into the ongoing struggle for providing equal opportunities to all. Richardson argues that the victory of the North in the Civil War was short-lived as the defeated South's system moved westward and established a foothold, giving rise to a new birth of white male oligarchy in the West. The book traces the story of the American paradox, the competing claims of equality and subordination woven into the nation's fabric and identity. The author's searing book debunks the myth that the Civil War ended racism and discrimination. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the roots of racism and discrimination in America."

Eduardo Bonilla-Silva’s Racism without Racists is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand systemic racism and its insidious nature in contemporary America. This sixth edition includes new material on how color-blind racism framed issues during the COVID-19 pandemic and a revised conclusion offering ideas on how to confront racism on both a personal and structural level. The book's unique approach to examining how Whites account for the existence of racial inequality makes it a standout in the African American Demographic Studies genre. Overall, a timely and important book for our current social and political climate.

From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawaii (Revised Edition) is a well-reasoned attack against the rampant abuse of Native Hawaiian rights, institutional racism, and gender discrimination. The book includes material that builds on issues and concerns raised in the first edition and provides a moral and political rationale for Hawaiian self-determination and sovereignty. The author, Haunani-Kay Trask, is an activist, author, and poet, and is a professor of Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawai'i. Overall, this book is a masterpiece that will change the way readers think about Hawaii and all lands seized by force.