Darkness in El Dorado: How Scientists and Journalists Devastated the Amazon

By Patrick Tierney

Book Overview

Thought to be the last virgin people, the Yanomami were considered the most savage and warlike tribe on earth, as well as one of the most remote, secreted in the jungles and highlands of the Venezuelan and Brazilian rainforest. Preeminent anthropologists like Napoleon Chagnon and Jacques Lizot founded their careers in the 1960s by discovering the Yanomami's ferocious warfare and sexual competition. Their research is now examined in painstaking detail by Patrick Tierney, whose book has prompted the American Anthropological Association to launch a major investigation into the charges, and has ignited the academic world like no other book in recent years. The most important book on anthropology in decades, Darkness in El Dorado will be a work to be reckoned with by a new generation of students the world over. A National Book Award finalist; a New York Times Notable Book, a Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year, and a Boston Globe Best Book of the Year. 16 pages of b/w photographs. In many respects, the most important book ever written about the Yanomami....--Leslie Sponsel, University of Hawaii An astonishing tale of scientific vainglory and blinding pride....Subtly argued and powerfully written.--The National Book Award Foundation Judges' Citation [A] tale of self-interested agendas carried to such extremes as to seem an anthropological Heart of Darkness.--Los Angeles Times Best Books of 2000 [W]ill become a classic in anthropological literature, sparking countless debates.--The New York Times Book Review, John Horgan Its most immediate effect may be to provoke a needed dialogue on the crucial importance of informed consent in anthropology.--The Chronicle of Higher Education, Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban An enthralling and well-researched look at the unscrupulous practices of anthropology and journalism.--Booklist, Vanessa Bush Copiously annotated and well documented... the culmination of a decade-long study of what Tierney claims is false science.--Publishers Weekly starred review Nowhere is there a better case study of the effects of intervention on tribal peoples...--Christian Science Monitor [A] brilliant and shocking book....This book should shake anthropology to its very foundations.--Terrence Collins, Carnegie Mellon University An extremely important contribution.--John Frechione, University of Pittsburgh [C]arefully researched and documented...reveals an interlocking series of scandals that constitute the most flagrant violations of scientific ethics...--Terrence Turner, Carnegie Mellon University [A] devastatingly truthful story of massive genocide in contemporary times.--Chief Wilma Mankiller, Board Member, The Ford Foundation The case of Napoleon Chagnon, as harrowingly documented by Patrick Tierney, appears to be an archetypal and unbelievably appalling one.--Alex Shoumatoff, author of The Rivers Amazon, and The World is Burning

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393322750
• ISBN13: 9780393322750
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 462 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

One of the Best

This is one of the best books I've ever read (and I'm a good reader). Hard to believe and Anthropologic book can be so good.

Clearly Credible

I was an anthropology major in the late 1980's at UC Santa Barbara. Chagnon was my professor for Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. Obviously, he assigned his book (Yanomamo: The Fierce People) and showed several of his films in class (including the Axe Fight). Based upon my 10 weeks in his class, including a few visits to his office, I found his behavior to be very arrogant, condescending, and narcissistic. Tierney's allegations against Chagnon just don't surprise me.

great book. period.

a review below states "This book should be titled 'lies and deception'. Even extreme anthropological Marxists like Ferguson and Harris - whose ideas Tierney uses - have distanced themselves from this work." i have to say its absolutely not true, I had Ferguson as a professor at Rutgers and when i asked if he could recommend any books on the subject of the Yanonami this was on the top of his list. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the perception of warfare [or the contruction of such perception]. The short explanation is, its just a great book for whatever reason. i also recommend reading some chagnon after reading this book for the contrast. but this is def a great read!