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Title details for The Old Way by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas - Available

The Old Way

A Story of the First People

by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas
Elizabeth Marshall Thomas
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
One of our most influential anthropologists reevaluates her long and illustrious career by returning to her roots-and the roots of life as we know it


When Elizabeth Marshall Thomas first arrived in Africa to live among the Kalahari San, or bushmen, it was 1950, she was nineteen years old, and these last surviving hunter-gatherers were living as humans had lived for 15,000 centuries. Thomas wound up writing about their world in a seminal work, The Harmless People (1959). It has never gone out of print.


Back then, this was uncharted territory and little was known about our human origins. Today, our beginnings are better understood. And after a lifetime of interest in the bushmen, Thomas has come to see that their lifestyle reveals great, hidden truths about human evolution.


As she displayed in her bestseller, The Hidden Life of Dogs, Thomas has a rare gift for giving voice to the voices we don't usually listen to, and helps us see the path that we have taken in our human journey. In The Old Way, she shows how the skills and customs of the hunter-gatherer share much in common with the survival tactics of our animal predecessors. And since it is "knowledge, not objects, that endure" over time, Thomas vividly brings us to see how linked we are to our origins in the animal kingdom.
The Old Way is a rare and remarkable achievement, sure to stir up controversy, and worthy of celebration.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    November 1, 2006

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781400123070
      • File size: 328405 KB
      • Duration: 11:24:10

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Elizabeth Marshall Thomas began studying the Kalahari hunter-gatherers when she was only 19 and wrote a book, THE HARMLESS PEOPLE, about their lives. As she revisits their culture, she shows how the African natives have long known more about their world and been less superstitious than their "educated" counterparts. They don't need modern science to tell them how to eat a poisonous beetle without getting sick, for example. As a writer, Thomas is adept at using humor and keen observation to back up her points. As a narrator, though, her reading can be monotonous. THE OLD WAY is a fascinating book that is worth listening to, but it could use a livelier narration. J.A.S. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      August 21, 2006
      In 1950, Thomas (The Hidden Life of Dogs
      ), at 19, joined her civil engineer father, her ballerina mother (who would become a celebrated anthropologist) and her brother on a life-changing expedition into southwest Africa's Kalahari Desert to live among the Ju/wasi Bushmen. Less a rigorous anthropological study than a loving, nostalgic ode to a self-sustaining culture of hunter-gatherers, this book recounts their now extinct way of life. The Ju/wasi used ostrich eggs to hold more than a day's water supply to expand their foraging range, and burned dry grass to encourage the growth of green grass, thus attracting large antelopes and other prey. The Ju/wasi allowed polygamy and divorce, welcomed baby girls as much as baby boys and treated children with unfailing kindness, but practiced infanticide on children born to nursing mothers because, with their low-fat diet, they could produce enough milk for only one child. In recent decades, the Bushmen have been removed from their land and their way of life has been obliterated by modernity, racism, poverty, alcoholism and AIDS. Thomas offers readers a glimpse of how our prehistoric ancestors undoubtedly lived, worked, loved and played. Photos from the Marshall family album freeze the Ju/wasi in the happy 1950s.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from March 26, 2007
      When Thomas was 19, her father, one of the founders of Raytheon, moved her family to Africa to live among the bushmen of the Kalahari. It's hard to imagine a teenager today who would not only give up the comforts of living in an industrialized nation like the United States but also utterly embrace and come to love a group of people who live without possessions or even permanent dwellings. Thomas sees the !Kung San as noble people, and her voice imparts the respect—almost awe—she feels in their presence. Her narration is as intimate as if she were sharing with friends her intricate knowledge of the plants and animals of the Kalahari. She speaks Ju/wasi, the click language, so she can easily explain much by using the group's own words. Thomas's voice is also wise and loving: she helps us see as these gentle people do and takes us with her through their endangered, fragile environment. Simultaneous release with the FSG hardcover (Reviews, Aug. 21).

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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