Black and White in East Africa

George Routledge, London, 1935. Hard Cover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very good-. First Edition. With a chapter on women by Hilde Thurnwald. 'A study in social contact and adaptation of life in east Africa.' 419pp with 16 b&w plates. Dustjacket has loss to top head of spine, but in remarkable good condition for age. Contents fine. Some scattered foxing especially to the page edges.

Richard Thurnwald (September 18, 1869 – January 19, 1954) was an Austrian anthropologist and sociologist, known for his comparative studies of social institutions.

During his career, he conducted ethno-sociological studies in the Solomon Islands and Micronesia (1906–09). In New Guinea (1912–15) he was the first European entering the highlands of central New Guinea along with Walter Behrmann also a member of the Kaiserin-Augusta-Fluss Expedition of 1912-13. Later he traveled to East Africa (1930) to continue his studies. He departed from the influential views of Wilhelm Wundt and Lucien Lévy-Bruhl, and believed that by analyzing social institutions comparatively, one could better explain their differences and how these differences determined the fundamental function of each institution. Thus, by comparing functional social structures, Thurnwald formed sequences of historical development.