The Old Way

A Story of the First People

By: Elizabeth Marshall Thomas

Narrated by: Elizabeth Marshall Thomas

One of our most influential anthropologists reevaluates her long and illustrious career by returning to her roots and the roots of life as we know it.

When Elizabeth Marshall Thomas first arrived in Africa to live among the Kalahari San, or bushmen, it was 1950, she was 19 years old, and these last surviving hunter-gatherers were living as humans had lived for 15,000 centuries. Thomas wound up writing about their world in a seminal work, The Harmless People. It has never gone out of print.

Back then, this was uncharted territory, and little was known about our human origins. Today, our beginnings are better understood. And after a lifetime of interest in the bushmen, Thomas has come to see that their lifestyle reveals great, hidden truths about human evolution.

As she displayed in her best seller, The Hidden Life of Dogs, Thomas has a rare gift for giving voice to the voices we don't usually listen to. She helps us see the path that we have taken in our human journey. In The Old Way, she shows how the skills and customs of the hunter-gatherer share much in common with the survival tactics of our animal predecessors. And since it is "knowledge, not objects, that endure" over time, Thomas vividly brings us to see how linked we are to our origins in the animal kingdom. The Old Way is a rare and remarkable achievement, sure to stir up controversy, and is worthy of celebration.

©2006 Elizabeth Marshall Thomas (P)2006 Tantor Media, Inc.

Wonderful!!

Although I have not read the text version, I imagine that listening to the author narrate this book adds to the flavor and beauty of this description of the lives of African Kalahari people in their indigenous state and their 21st Century status. The author/narrator is able to give authenticity to her prose by adding the click sounds to the words and names from her subjects' language that she includes in the narration. I simply enjoyed and learned from every sentence Ms. Marshall-Thomas generated, especially her description of her day spent foraging for food with the women of the group she studied.

At all levels this book is excellent.

The Type of Book that Stays with You

Loved that it was read by the narrator. This book gave me lots to ponder long after it was over and has frequently been the launch of many wonderful discussions.

Thank you

Thank you for your writings. I might not
Be the typical listener, being 27yrs old and no anthropologist. However, I enjoyed every second of this book and am grateful for the knowledge you are passing on. My words can’t express how much I appreciate your work.

Very Enlightening

The Old Way paints a clear picture of a way of living that is mostly lost. Extremely well thought out and told. I highly recommend.

a treasure!

a beautiful story of a 100,000 year old culture. that sadly died in my lifetime

Fascinating

A very interesting encounter of life as it was
once upon a time. Worth of consideration.

Profound listen

An enchanting and profound listen. The author narrates, as she can pronounce the words of the click language, which is fascinating. This book is profoundly historical: she is one of the last English-speaking researchers/writers to have had a significant interaction with this mother culture before it was, after tens of thousands of years, irrevocably altered. Their lifestyle and culture will never again exist as it did in the 1950's - the finality of the change is awe-inspiring to contemplate. One finds oneself feeling a deep, intimate connection with the Ju/hoansi, imagining oneself as they were, imagining that we were all just like they were, imagining that we can be like them again, not in the exact material form they lived in, but in the social and spiritual structure of egalitarianism and ritual healing. Thomas has an extremely sophisticated point of view (shared by her brother) about the post-50's cultural change, arguing that Westerners harm the Ju/hoansi by insisting on believing they can, through ill-informed, patronizing, and selfish philanthropy, restore them to their hunter-gatherer state. That said, know that this book is very much the kind of book that is great for falling asleep to, though it is not dry at all - the majority of it is about the 1950s-era Ju/hoansi, narrated in the calm, resonant voice of the older Thomas. I got this title after hearing it recommended by Sy Montgomery in her 7/13/2021 interview on the podcast The Ezra Klein Show about her book The Soul Of An Octopus; she is personal friends with Elizabeth Marshall Thomas.

Interesting first hand experience

This was a very interesting listen about the author's experience with some of the most isolated humans in modern times. It provides some understanding of how our ancestors probably lived thousands of years ago. I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in anthropology or evolution to gain a better sense of our common heritage.

fantastic

I have a new respect for these people now and have found so many ways that the old way resonates within me. Excellent book.