Life Among the Yanomami builds on literature and the author's personal experience of the northern Brazil people, the Mucajai Yanomami, with whom he lived from 1958 to 1967 and whom he has since frequently visited. The result is a rich and well-rounded understanding of this famously isolated people. While considerable detail of traditional way of life is provided, particular attention is devoted to the realities of social change arising from initial exposure to missionaries (of whom the author was one) to the more recent pressures from mining and the intervention of government and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). Family and village life, health and health care, demography, politicization (that includes Yanomami criticism of Western Society), and on cultural survival are among the key issues explored by Peters-compelling issues for indigenous peoples the world over. Coauthor of The Population Dynamics of the Mucajai Yanomami (Academic, 1990), Peters (sociology and anthropology, Wilfrid Laurier Univ.) has written an excellent ethnographic study of the Xilixana community on the Mucajai River in northern Brazil. The Xilixana are a small community of people that practice Yanomami culture. They first made contact with the outside world in 1957, and from this point the author documents both the positive and negative effects of Western culture on their society. The author has a unique perspective on the contact period because he was a missionary at the time and lived among the Xilixana from 1958 to 1967. Peters's account is poignant, since it is inevitable that Yanomami culture will be lost as the Xilixana are assimilated into extinction. Highly recommended for specialized anthropology collections.AJohn R. Burch Jr., Cumberland Coll. Lib., Williamsburg, KY Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. This is by far the most comprehensive and detailed account of the Yanomami available. Peters brings a uniquely informed perspective to his study, the result of having lived with his wife and family among the Yanomami for several years. He uses this experience to provide invaluable insights not only into the everyday life of the Yanomami, but also into usually neglected historical, sociopolitical, and demographic issues, and into the continuing health crisis precipitated by the illegal invasion of gold miners. An indispensable book for reading and for reference. Thanks for the opportunity to read this wonderful and significant work. ―Leslie E. Sponsel, Professor of Anthropology, University of Hawaii, Former Chair of the Commission for Human Rights of the American Anthropological Association, and editor of Indigenous Peoples and the Future of Amazonia John F. Peters is a professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Wilfrid Laurier University, where he initiated and now coordinates the Development and International Studies Program. He is co-author of The Population Dynamics of the Mucajai Yanomami. Used Book in Good Condition