"This book, by an archaeologist, an historian, an anthropologist and a school teacher, introduces the long history and current condition of the hunting people of southern Africa to a wide range of students, teachers and interested readers. It attempts to place the modern Bushmen, or San, in historical context and to show how they have continually adapted to outside pressures which, even today, are forcing them to fit into the modern states of Namibia and Botswana." "In many ways this is a story of people who were and are well adapted to their environment and who, in spite of pressure from outsiders over the centuries, have managed to keep their culture reasonably intact in many areas. These survivors bear witness to an incredible ability to adapt against the odds."

"Small-scale societies like that of the Bushmen have social lessons to teach a world that is becoming increasingly homogenised. Their lifestyle needs to be understood and respected."--Jacket.