"Readers can benefit from exposure to a cross-grained critic, especially one who write well and accessibly as Washburn does." -- ChoiceWashburn critically examines key anthropological beliefs, especially the importance of cultural relativism and Western colonialism's harmful effects on Third World cultures. He turns the tables on theorists from the discipline. The questions raised force us to rethink our entrenched assumptions about the human condition, national identity and the future of anthropology.