In the Foreword to Culture and Agriculture, distinguished anthropologist John W. Bennett writes Dr. Schusky's book is welcome. It marks a point of maturity for anthropology's interest in agriculture, a distillation of decades of research and thought on the most important survival task facing humankind, the production of food. Although applauded by a specialist in the field, Schusky's book is specifically written for the general reader who is interested in agriculture. It offers a historical overview of the two major periods of agriculture--the Neolithic Revolution, which occurred when humans initally domesticated plants and animals, and the Neoclaric Revolution, which began the introduction of fossil fuel into agriculture in the twentieth century. Culture and Agriculture dramatizes the extensive changes that are occurring in modern agriculture due to the intensified use of fossil energy. The book details how the overdependence on fossil energy, with its looming exhaustion, is a major cause of pessimism about food production. The book also addresses the possible solutions to this scenario--conservation steps, an increase in the mix of solar energy, and an emphasis on human labor--which hold out hope for the future. Part I introduces the discovery or domestication of plants and animals (the Neolithic), along with the later use of irrigation, in order to show that most agricultural development, until the twentieth century, occurred between 5,000 and 10,000 years ago. Part II presents a brief survey of agricultural history which demonstrates that hunger had more to do with inequity in the social system than in the amounts of food produced. Agricultural history also emphasizes how little change occurred in agriculture from 5,000 years ago until the twentieth century, when the use of fossil energy revolutionized food production. In assessing the future of agricultural development, Schusky underscores the importance of economic and political policies that emphasize equity in distribution of wealth and government services. This book should appeal to the general reader interested in agriculture, rural sociology, or anthropology.

Originally published in 1964 by Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, this volume has been used by more than 50,000 students as an introduction to classifying and analyzing the kinship systems of the world. This second edition introduces in a simple, step-by-step style the methods of componential analysis as well as determining the structure of Iroquois, Crow-Omaha, and other kinship systems. A good supplemental text for Introductory Anthropology courses.

Father Hector, trained in agronomy and extension, delights in farming. When the bishop appoints him to San Miguel in the mountains of Mexico, he feels his prayers have been answered. The bishop's agenda differs. He directs Hector to convince the Indian congregants that miracles are not the frequent events that they are reporting. When Hector reaches San Miguel, he confronts a Protestant evangelical, who is encouraging villagers to plant cash crops and use new pesticides and modern technology. Instead of battling for souls, Hector must pit sustainable agriculture and appropriate technology against his rival. Hector's empathy and hard work win out over the charisma and charm of the Protestant, but his attempts to reduce the frequency of miracles at San Miguel are a different matter. ERNEST L. SCHUSKY is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Southern Illinois University and was Visiting Professor at New Mexico Highlands University. He now lives in Tucson, Arizona where his interest in American Indians has focused on the American Southwest. He is the author of "Return to Beauty," also from Sunstone Press, and two non-fiction works, "The Right to Be Indian" and "The Forgotten Sioux," along with several novels.

Yahzi, a strong Navajo woman captured in 1820 by the Spanish in Canyon de Chelly in what is now northeastern Arizona when she was a teenager, is determined to escape by whatever means necessary. In a forced marriage with a cruel man for seventeen years and pregnant, she manages to stampede a flock of sheep and flees in the confusion. But she faces even more difficulties in the unknown lands between the Spanish Nuevo Mexico frontier and her home in Canyon de Chelly. Nor will she find her real family anything like the one she has fantasized about for years. Ernest L. Schusky is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Southern Illinois University and was Visiting Professor at New Mexico Highlands University. He now lives in Tucson, Arizona where his interest in American Indians has focused on the Southwest. He is the author of two non-fiction works, "The Right to Be Indian" and "The Forgotten Sioux," along with several novels.