{"product_id":"ritual-9781788161022","title":"Ritual","description":"\u003cp\u003e • Author(s): Dimitris Xygalatas\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher: Profile Books Ltd\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher Imprint: Profile Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eShortlisted for the British Academy Book Prize 2023\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A gripping guide to rites and customs around the world' \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eNew Scientist \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e'Fascinating ... pacy, adventurous' \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eMail on Sunday\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRitual is the oldest, and certainly the most enigmatic, thread in the history of human culture. And it presents a profound paradox: people ascribe the utmost importance to their rituals, but few can explain \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003ewhy \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ethey are so important. Apparently pointless ceremonies pervade every documented society, from handshakes to hexes, hazings to parades. Before we ever learned to farm, we were gathering in giant stone temples to perform elaborate rites and ceremonies. And yet, though rituals exist in every culture and can persist nearly unchanged for centuries, their logic has remained a mystery - until now.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eRitual\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, pioneering scientist Dimitris Xygalatas leads us on an enlightening tour through this shadowy realm of human behaviour. Armed with cutting-edge technology and drawing on discoveries from a huge range of disciplines, he presents a powerful new perspective on our place in the world. In coronations, in silent prayer, in fire-walks and terrifying rites of passage, in all the bewildering variety of human life, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eRitual\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e reveals the deep and subtle mechanisms that bind us together.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Profile Books Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":46935500685463,"sku":"9781788161022","price":1850.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0666\/3471\/1191\/files\/9781788161022.webp?v=1771829963","url":"https:\/\/atlanticbooks.com\/products\/ritual-9781788161022","provider":"Atlantic Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}