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Desmond Morris

The Naked Ape: A Zoologist's Study of the Human Animal Paperback – 6 Oct. 2005

by Desmond Morris (Author)

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FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY EDITION - WITH A NEW PREFACE BY THE AUTHOR

Here is the Naked Ape at his most primal - in love, at work, at war. Meet man as he really is: relative to the apes, stripped of his veneer as we see him courting, making love, sleeping, socialising, grooming, playing.

Zoologist Desmond Morris's classic takes its place alongside Darwin's Origin of the Species, presenting man not as a fallen angel, but as a risen ape, remarkable in his resilience, energy and imagination, yet an animal nonetheless, in danger of forgetting his origins. With its penetrating insights on man's beginnings, sex life, habits and our astonishing bonds to the animal kingdom, The Naked Ape is a landmark, at once provocative, compelling and timeless.

'Original, provocative and brilliantly entertaining. It's the sort of book that changes people's lives' Sunday Times

Print length

272 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Vintage
Publication date

6 Oct. 2005
Dimensions

12.9 x 1.7 x 19.8 cm
ISBN-10

9780099482017
ISBN-13

978-0099482017
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Product description

Review

Readable, surprising and provocative ― The Times

I really enjoyed The Naked Ape by Desmond Morris. It was published in 1967 and is often a very amusing zoological perspective on human beings. The chapter on sex is hilarious -- KT Tunstall ― Independent

Stimulating -- Arthur Koestler

Thought-provoking...Morris has introduced some novel and challenging ideas ― Natural History

Fascinating ― Sunday Times

From the Publisher

Reissued on 6th October 2005

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0099482010
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage; New Ed edition (6 Oct. 2005)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780099482017
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0099482017
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.9 x 1.7 x 19.8 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 66,228 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 8 in Animal Evolution
- 28 in Encyclopaedias for Young Adults
- 40 in Human Evolution

Customer reviews:
467 ratings

About the author

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Desmond Morris

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Desmond Morris was born in 1928. Educated at Birmingham and Oxford universities, he became the Curator of Mammals at London Zoo in 1959, a post he held for eight years.

In 1967 he published The Naked Ape which has sold over 10 million copies worldwide and has changed the way we view our own species forever.

An accomplished artist, TV presenter, film maker and writer, Desmond Morris's books have been published in over thirty-six countries.

Customer reviews

5 star		72%
4 star		17%
3 star		6%
2 star		2%
1 star		2%

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alan

Gripping insight to the human condition past and present.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 8 November 2012

Verified Purchase

I first read this book over twenty years ago as a undergraduate and found it groundbreaking in its breadth and scope concerning the human race, it's evolution in relation to the other major animal groups and how this human evolution made us the dominant species on Earth even with all our "quirks and inherent weakness".
It was easy to understand and a very persausive argument, pretty much taking up where Darwin left off but in a much more understandable fashion while going into depth about why we react and act as we do.

Since I intially read this and the other books in the series, there has been some academic criticism about various assertions the book makes. Mainly about what it says about humans, our general behaviour patterns and the reasons for them.
However, for me it is still almost like a "bible" of scientific common sense in terms of it's explanation of many aspects of human behaviour that I still continue to experience in the real world today.I still feel Morris is "onto something" with his remarkable insights to the human condition, how it relates to the animal world and how we have managed to adapt our animal nature to the complex "man made" enormous cityscapes and nation groupings of humans today.
Whether as an argument for Human behaviour it will continue to makes sense in times to come I have no idea but compared to other explanations for human behaviour such as Freud and other "Psycho babble" it for me is much more plausible.

Read it! You may be suprised!

6 people found this helpful

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Mr. N. J. Bolam

Eye opening ideas on why we MAY be like we are (Psychologically and physiologically)

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 8 August 2011

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Very interesting book that I think everyone should have a read of. Our behaviours and physiological characteristics are looked at from a zoological perspective, we're analysed in much the same way as other species are.

There are lots of eye opening sections, things to make you go "Wow, that makes a lot of sense". Unfortunately there is no direct proof attached to any of the claims (although I'm sure it is based off scientific research). It would just be nice to know these scientific facts as well although I guess that wouldn't make for such a free-flowing book.

Some ideas, particularly those based on sex and sexuality are noticably out-dated, but that is to be expected I guess.

The book has opened up another avenue for me - information on the "aquatic ape", I'm not sure I believe this theory but it definitely makes for interesting reading, I'm about to begin reading a book solely on this subject.

Overall, definitely worth a read, very interesting, thought provoking and actually a bit humbling - trying to get us to realise that we're just like the other species we're related too at our core.

2 people found this helpful

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Lucia

Pleasant read.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 27 May 2021

Verified Purchase

Book arrived in double quick time and in perfect condition.
Was good to touch base and cover Old Ground but... yes, would the birth of David Attenborough it was very dated.

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SOL

Bought as a replacement

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 13 August 2020

Verified Purchase

Bought as replacement for misplaced copy, for daughter, not had any feedback

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 24 February 2014

Verified Purchase

I first read this book in the 60's when I was a teenager. I found it fascinating and in fact this book sparked in me what was to be a lifelong interest in Anthropology. I recently decided to re-read this book. It is written in a very accessible, easy-to-read style. Of course our knowledge has moved on a good deal in the last 40 or 50 years, and the book should be read critically, but still a great book full of interest and controversy! Well worth delving into.

4 people found this helpful

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Mac Liddall

I first read this book 40 years ago.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 25 September 2020

Verified Purchase

I first read this book some 40 years ago. An excellent insight into who we are.
Brilliant to be reading it again.
More relevant than ever, to start to understand modern society.

One person found this helpful

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T. P. Cannon

Still a good read.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 11 July 2018

Verified Purchase

In it's day, a controversial book. I like its 'conversational' style, and surprisingly doesn't come across as too 'dated'. Treating human beings as just another species of ape, it looks at our species from a zoologist's point of view, and comments on our behaviour and evolution in much the same way we might study any animal. Comparisons are made with other animal species, and how they are thought to have developed, and why.

4 people found this helpful

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tadhg@ireland.com (tadhg@ireland.com)

essential reading, only minor quibbles

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 28 November 2014

Verified Purchase

Eye opening and essential reading. Though the fact that it was written in 1967 shows through in a few little areas. I think he gets it right on sexuality but wrong on homosexuality and it's evident it was written in a time when there was not an understanding of it. But despite this it gives a new and fascinating insight in to our nature and origins.

One person found this helpful

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