Cover is a bit torn in top corner, but otherwise it is in pristine condition.
The Dogon live in a remote area of the west African country of Mali, in mud-brick houses below the breathtaking Bandiagara cliffs, which shielded them from nineteenth-century slave traders, and twentieth-century Western culture as well. This stunning photographic book demonstrates how geography, with a 125-mile range of cliffs, has protected and dictated the culture of the intensely spiritual Dogon. The focus is on the people of the cliff face in their villages built beside steep-walled gorges that are accessible only on foot. Photojournalist Hollyman and anthropologist van Beek detail the Dogon's skill as agriculturists in growing sorghum, millet, corn, and onions, and as skilled artisans famous for the masks they make. Hollyman and van Beek highlight the Dogon orientation toward communal labor, collective action, and group responsibility, and also how they maintain their culture and interact with the outside world. This beautiful accounting and showing of this distinctive people's history and culture will enthrall many, especially anthropologically minded readers interested in how non-Western cultures maintain their traditions. Vanessa Bush
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