Nigel Barley
Encyclopedia
Nigel Barley is an anthropologist famous for the books he has written on his experiences. He studied modern languages at Cambridge University and completed a doctorate
in social anthropology
at Oxford University. He held a number of academic positions before joining the British Museum
as an assistant keeper in the Department of Ethnography
, where he remained until 2003.
Barley's first book, The Innocent Anthropologist, was a witty and informative account of anthropological field work among the Dowayo people of Cameroon
. Thereafter he published a number of works about Africa
and Indonesia
in such genres as travel, art, historical biography, and fiction.
Barley has been twice nominated for the Travelex
Writer of the Year Award. In 2002, he won the Foreign Press Association prize for travel writing
.
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
in social anthropology
Social anthropology
Social Anthropology is one of the four or five branches of anthropology that studies how contemporary human beings behave in social groups. Practitioners of social anthropology investigate, often through long-term, intensive field studies , the social organization of a particular person: customs,...
at Oxford University. He held a number of academic positions before joining the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
as an assistant keeper in the Department of Ethnography
Ethnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
, where he remained until 2003.
Barley's first book, The Innocent Anthropologist, was a witty and informative account of anthropological field work among the Dowayo people of Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
. Thereafter he published a number of works about Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
in such genres as travel, art, historical biography, and fiction.
Barley has been twice nominated for the Travelex
Travelex Group
Travelex Group is foreign exchange company founded by Lloyd Dorfman and headquartered London. Its main businesses are international payments, bureau de change and issuing prepaid credit cards for use by travellers...
Writer of the Year Award. In 2002, he won the Foreign Press Association prize for travel writing
Travel writing
Travel writing is a genre that has, as its focus, accounts of real or imaginary places. The genre encompasses a number of styles that may range from the documentary to the evocative, from literary to journalistic, and from the humorous to the serious....
.
Select bibliography
- Symbolic structures. An exploration of the culture of the Dowayos, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1983 ISBN 0-521-24745-4
- The Innocent Anthropologist: Notes From a Mud Hut, 1983. (ISBN 0-8050-1967-7)
- Adventures in a Mud Hut: An Innocent Anthropologist Abroad, Vanguard PressVanguard PressThe Vanguard Press was a United States publishing house established with a $100,000 grant from the left wing American Fund for Public Service, better known as the Garland Fund. Throughout the 1920s, Vanguard Press issued an array of books on radical topics, including studies of the Soviet Union,...
, 1984. (ISBN 0-8149-0880-2) - A Plague of Caterpillars: A Return to the African Bush, Viking PressViking PressViking Press is an American publishing company owned by the Penguin Group, which has owned the company since 1975. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim...
, 1986. (ISBN 0-670-80704-4) - Ceremony: An Anthropologist's Misadventures in the African Bush, Henry Holt, 1987. (ISBN 0-8050-0142-5)
- A Plague of Caterpillars (US Edition)
- Not a Hazardous Sport, Henry Holt, 1989. (ISBN 0-8050-0960-4)
- The Coast, 1991 (comic novel). (ISBN 0-14-012213-3)
- The Duke of Puddle Dock: Travels in the Footsteps of Stamford Raffles, Henry Holt, 1992. (ISBN 0-8050-1968-5)
- Grave Matters: A Lively History of Death around the World, Henry Holt, 1997. (ISBN 0-8050-4824-3)
- White Rajah: A Biography of Sir James Brooke, Little, Brown, 2003. (ISBN 0-3168-5920-6)
- Rogue Raider: The tale of Captain Lauterbach and the Singapore Mutiny, Monsoon BooksMonsoon BooksMonsoon Books is an independent publishing firm based in Singapore.Established in 2003 by Briton Philip Tatham, Monsoon Books publishes English-language fiction and narrative nonfiction , often with a Southeast Asian angle.Authors...
, 2006. (ISBN 981-05-5949-6) - Island of Demons: A novelistic treatment of the life of the painter Walter Spies in Bali, Monsoon BooksMonsoon BooksMonsoon Books is an independent publishing firm based in Singapore.Established in 2003 by Briton Philip Tatham, Monsoon Books publishes English-language fiction and narrative nonfiction , often with a Southeast Asian angle.Authors...
, 2009. (ISBN 978-981-08-2381-8) - The Devil's Garden: Love and War in Singapore under the Japanese Flag, Monsoon BooksMonsoon BooksMonsoon Books is an independent publishing firm based in Singapore.Established in 2003 by Briton Philip Tatham, Monsoon Books publishes English-language fiction and narrative nonfiction , often with a Southeast Asian angle.Authors...
,2011. (ISBN: 978-981-4358-42-2)