16 Best Anthropology Books
We analyzed 5+ expert sources, curated book lists, and recommendations from successful people to find the 16 best anthropology books according to the internet — not just one person's opinion. Each book on this list was mentioned by at least two independent sources, and the ranking is based on how frequently each title appears across all sources studied. This consensus-based approach ensures you get recommendations backed by multiple experts, not a single reviewer's bias.
Goal: Find the best Anthropology books according to the internet (not just one person's opinion).
Method:
- Search for "best anthropology books" and study the top 5+ pages.
- Add only the books mentioned 2+ times.
- Rank the results neatly here.
16 Best Anthropology Books
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Anthropology
Appreciating Human Diversity
Cultural Anthropology
Asking Questions About Humanity
Purity and Danger
An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo
Sapiens
A Brief History, Book 1
Also recommended by
32 people
Joe Rogan recommended this bookJoe Rogan
"It really puts in perspective how bizarre human beings are. It’s an awesome overview of our species." - Joe Rogan
Joe Rogan's recommendation of this book
Bill Gates recommended this bookBill Gates
"I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a fun, engaging look at early human history." - Bill Gates
Bill Gates's recommendation of this book
Naval Ravikant recommended this bookNaval Ravikant
"Best book I've read in [2015]." - Naval Ravikant
Naval Ravikant's recommendation of this book
Lex Fridman recommended this bookLex Fridman
"Basically one of the things we've created here is we've imagined ideas that we all share." - Lex Fridman
Lex Fridman's recommendation of this book
Mark Zuckerberg recommended this bookMark Zuckerberg
"A big history narrative of human civilization." - Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg's recommendation of this book
Peter Attia recommended this bookPeter Attia
One of Peter Attia's answers to "any books you feel would make your reading list?"
Peter Attia's recommendation of this book +26
More recommendations
- Ashton Kutcher
"The brainy book I seem to be sharing or talking about the most lately." - Ashton Kutcher
- Whitney Cummings
"A great book about [how] we’ve evolved and why we have anxiety." - Whitney Cummings
- Richard Branson
"I just love the style of his writing." - Richard Branson
- Ray Dalio
Ray Dalio mentioned this book on "The Tim Ferriss Show" podcast.
- Vinod Khosla
"A previous favorite." - Vinod Khosla
- James Cameron
"It explains human behavior and why we are the way we are in human civilization from soup to nuts. And I’ve read it now a couple of times. It’s a pretty astonishing book." - James Cameron
- Demis Hassabis
"There's not many times where I read a book and come out with 20 new ideas I hadn't thought about before, and [this book] made me think like that." - Demis Hassabis
- Keith Rabois
Keith Rabois recommended this book on a Medium blog post.
- Daniel Ek
"Both sobering and conservatively optimistic in equal measure." - Daniel Ek
- Reid Hoffman
"A grand theory of humanity." - Reid Hoffman
- Sam Kass
Sam Kass recommended this book in the "Tools of Titans" book.
- Sebastian Junger
"I’m going to give [this book] over and over again to everyone I know." - Sebastian Junger
- Kishore Biyani
"Fascinating because of its multi-disciplinary approach towards understanding human society, our behaviour and our future." - Kishore Biyani
- Ryan Shea
One of Ryan Shea's 4 answers to "what is the book (or books) you’ve given most as a gift?"
- Melinda Gates
Melinda Gates recommended this book on Likewise.com.
- Bill Gurley
"I really enjoyed [this book]." - Bill Gurley
- Karlie Kloss
"An amazing book on the beginning of humanity." - Karlie Kloss
- Anthony Pompliano
"[One of the] best books I read in 2017." - Anthony Pompliano
- Changpeng Zhao
"Gives me a greater perspective about how humans emerged and why we behave the way we do." - Changpeng Zhao
- PewDiePie
"Tells the major revolutions of human history." - PewDiePie
- Patrick O'Shaughnessy
"Provides a concise history of humankind and outlines why we have the psychology we do today." - Patrick O'Shaughnessy
- Chris Evans
"Truly mind-blowing. It’s changed the way I look at almost everything. I can’t endorse it enough." - Chris Evans
- Simon Mayo
"Love this book still." - Simon Mayo
- Penn Jillette
Penn Jillette mentioned this book in a New York Times interview.
- Mark Manson
Mark Manson recommended this book on his website.
- James Clear
"[One of] the 10 best nonfiction books of all-time." - James Clear
- Ashton Kutcher
Guns, Germs, and Steel
The Fates of Human Societies
Also recommended by
12 people
Joe Rogan recommended this bookJoe Rogan
"An amazing book." - Joe Rogan
Joe Rogan's recommendation of this book
Bill Gates recommended this bookBill Gates
"Fascinating.... Lays a foundation for understanding human history." - Bill Gates
Bill Gates's recommendation of this book
Charlie Munger recommended this bookCharlie Munger
Charlie Munger recommended this book in the "Poor Charlie's Almanack" book.
Charlie Munger's recommendation of this book
Simon Sinek recommended this bookSimon Sinek
"Offers us a new and remarkably simple way of looking at our world." - Simon Sinek
Simon Sinek's recommendation of this book
Daniel Ek recommended this bookDaniel Ek
"A brilliant Pulitzer Prize-winning book about how the modern world was formed, analyzing how societies developed differently on different continents." - Daniel Ek
Daniel Ek's recommendation of this book
Jesse Williams recommended this bookJesse Williams
"Helped rid me of the nagging incompleteness in my understood connection between the successes and failings of ancient and modern civilizations." - Jesse Williams
Jesse Williams's recommendation of this book +6
More recommendations
- Stewart Brand
"The main [book by this author]." - Stewart Brand
- Patrick Arnold
"Gave a big eye opening on why certain people of the world are more advanced than others and behave a certain way, as opposed to just genetics and this person is smarter because of this or that." - Patrick Arnold
- Jamie Dimon
On Jamie Dimon's list of favorite books.
- Margaret Atwood
"Also does pandemics." - Margaret Atwood
- Mark Manson
Mark Manson recommended this book on his website.
- James Clear
"[One of] the 10 best nonfiction books of all-time." - James Clear
- Stewart Brand
Debt
The First 5,000 Years
Also recommended by
2 people
Seth Godin recommended this bookSeth Godin
"The most fascinating book I've read all year [in 2015]." - Seth Godin
Seth Godin's recommendation of this book
Mark Manson recommended this bookMark Manson
Mark Manson recommended this book on his website.
Mark Manson's recommendation of this book
Almost Human
The Astonishing Tale of Homo Naledi and the Discovery That Changed Our Human Story
Anthropology & the Colonial Encounter
Beyond Culture
Crazy Like Us
The Globalization of the American Psyche
Discipline and Punish
The Birth of the Prison
Gods of the Upper Air
How a Circle of Renegade Anthropologists Reinvented Race, Sex, and Gender in the Twentieth Century
How to Read Ethnography
Imagined Communities
Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism
Language, Culture, and Society
An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology
The Unfolding of Language
An Evolutionary Tour of Mankind's Greatest Invention
Sources
- 1
Top 10 Anthropology Books of 2020 | Video Review
wiki.ezvid.com
- 2
Best Anthropology Books
pennbookcenter.com
- 3
Learning Anthropology: The Top Ten Books | Superprof
superprof.co.uk
- 4
10 Best Anthropology Books for Beginners
sociologygroup.com
- 5
The 30 Essential Books in Anthropology - Allegra Lab
allegralaboratory.net
Edited by
Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.
Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.































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