In the foreword to the first edition, renowned anthropologist, Victor Turner, wrote that this book was a succinct and lucid account of the sporadic growth of political anthropology over the past four decades . . . the introduction we have all been waiting for. Unique in its field, this book offers a comprehensive overview of political anthropology, including its history, its major research findings, and its theoretical concerns both past and present. The second edition has been significantly updated and expanded, with extensive changes in many chapters, three additional chapters, and a new conclusion. It serves as a basic text and structure for a full course.

In a clearly written style, this introduction also provides the background necessary for further study. The revised chapters cover such topics as the development of political anthropology, the origin of the state, religion and politics, and political theory. One added chapter will bring the reader up to date on the feminist studies of the 1980s. Another on people against the state summarizes a dominant recent trend of researching the ways that underclasses non-violently manipulate governments to their own advantage. And a third, on ethnicity and retribalization, focuses on how subcultural enclaves politically adapt to modernization. The wholly rewritten conclusion summarizes major theoretical trends of the 1980s and 1990s and offers insight on future developments.