{"product_id":"cannibalism-a-perfectly-natural-history","title":"Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History","description":"\u003cdiv data-a-expander-name=\"book_description_expander\" data-a-expander-collapsed-height=\"280\" class=\"a-expander-collapsed-height a-row a-expander-container a-spacing-base a-expander-partial-collapse-container\" style=\"max-height: none; height: 280px;\"\u003e \u003cdiv data-expanded=\"false\" class=\"a-expander-content a-expander-partial-collapse-content\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px;\"\u003e \u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e‚ÄúSurprising. Impressive.  \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eCannibalism \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003erestores my faith in humanity.‚Äù \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e‚Äî\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eSy Montgomery, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e For centuries scientists have written off cannibalism as a bizarre phenomenon with little biological significance. Its presence in nature was dismissed as a desperate response to starvation or other life-threatening circumstances, and few spent time studying it. A taboo subject in our culture, the behavior was portrayed mostly through horror movies or tabloids sensationalizing the crimes of real-life flesh-eaters. But the true nature of cannibalism--the role it plays in evolution as well as human history--is even more intriguing (and more normal) than the misconceptions we‚Äôve come to accept as fact.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eCannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ezoologist Bill Schutt sets the record straight, debunking common myths and investigating our new understanding of cannibalism‚Äôs role in biology, anthropology, and history in the most fascinating account yet written on this complex topic. Schutt takes readers from Arizona‚Äôs Chiricahua Mountains, where he wades through ponds full of tadpoles devouring their siblings, to the Sierra Nevadas, where he joins researchers who are shedding new light on what happened to the Donner Party--the most infamous episode of cannibalism in American history. He even meets with an expert on the preparation and consumption of human placenta (and, yes, it goes well with Chianti).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Bringing together the latest cutting-edge science, Schutt answers questions such as why some amphibians consume their mother‚Äôs skin; why certain insects bite the heads off their partners after sex; why, up until the end of the twentieth century, Europeans regularly ate human body parts as medical curatives; and how cannibalism might be linked to the extinction of the Neanderthals. He takes us into the future as well, investigating whether, as climate change causes famine, disease, and overcrowding, we may see more outbreaks of cannibalism in many more species--including our own.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eCannibalism \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eplaces a perfectly natural occurrence into a vital new context and invites us to explore why it both enthralls and repels us.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003e  \u003c\/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"a-expander-header a-expander-partial-collapse-header\" style=\"opacity: 1; display: block;\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"a-expander-content-fade\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e}\"\u0026gt;\u003ci class=\"a-icon a-icon-extender-expand\"\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-expander-prompt\"\u003eRead more\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Algonquin Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50120069316893,"sku":"9781616207434","price":14.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0901\/5692\/5213\/files\/9781616207434.jpg?v=1751398054","url":"https:\/\/bookdelico.com\/products\/cannibalism-a-perfectly-natural-history","provider":"Book Delico ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}