Introducing Lévi-Strauss is a guide to the work of the great French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908-2009). The book brilliantly traces the development and influence of Lévi-Strauss' thought, from his early work on the function of the incest taboo to initiate an exchange of women between groups, to his identification of a timeless "wild" or "primitive" mode of thinking - a pensée sauvage - behind the processes of human culture.

Accessibly written by Boris Wiseman and beautifully illustrated by Judy Groves, Introducing Lévi-Strauss also explores the major contribution that Lévi-Strauss made to contemporary aesthetic history - his work on American-Indian mythology provides a key insight into the way in which art itself comes into being.

This is an essential introduction to a key thinker.

Dr Wiseman studied in London at King's College and the London School of Economics and in Paris at the Sorbonne Nouvelle and the École Normale Supérieure. He had been a lecturer in the French Department at Durham University since 1997 and is currently at the University of Copenhagen.

Judy Groves is a painter, graphic designer and illustrator. She has illustrated numerous Introducing titles.