Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

In a world in which migration and the mixing of peoples are increasing while at the same time multicultural ideology has given rise to the reassertion of putative primordial differences between peoples, interesting questions are raised about the relationships between political rhetoric and social action, groupness and individuality, and the public and the private. The rate of intermarriage is considered by sociologists the most important statistical test of the strength or weakness of structural divisions within societies. What do social anthropologists have to say about heterogamy and homogamy in situations of movement and flux, and what does this tell us about processes of boundary-definition?

"Barbara Waldis" is assistant professor at the Institut d'ethnologie at the University of Neuchtel (Switzerland). "Reginald Byron" is professor of sociology and anthropology at the University of Wales, Swansea (UK).

The renowned artist Ed Ruscha was born in Nebraska, grew up in Oklahoma, and has lived and worked in Southern California since the late 1950s. Beginning in 1956, road trips across the American Southwest furnished a conceptual trove of themes and motifs that he mined throughout his career. The everyday landscapes of the West, especially as experienced from the automobile - gas stations, billboards, building facades, parking lots, and long stretches of roadway - are the primary motifs of his often deadpan and instantly recognizable paintings and works on paper, as well as his influential artist books such as Twentysix Gasoline Stations and All the Buildings on the Sunset Strip. His iconic word images - declaring Adios, Rodeo, Wheels over Indian Trails, and Honey...Twisted through More Damn Traffic to Get Here - further underscore a contemporary Western sensibility. Ruscha's interest in what the real West has become - and Hollywood's version of it - plays out across his oeuvre. The cinematic sources of his subject matter can be seen in his silhouette pictures, which often appear to be grainy stills from old Hollywood movies. They feature images of the contemporary West, such as parking lots and swimming pools, but also of its historical past: covered wagons, buffalo, teepees, and howling coyotes. Featuring essays by Karin Breuer and D. J. Waldie, and a fascinating interview with the artist conducted by Kerry Brougher, this stunning catalogue, produced in close collaboration with the Ruscha studio, offers the first full exploration of the painter's lifelong fascination with the romantic concept and modern reality of the evolving American West. Published in association with the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Exhibition dates: de Young, San Francisco: July 16-October 9, 2016.