The Human Zoo

How does city life change the way we act? What accounts for the increasing prevalence of violence and anxiety in our world? In this new edition of his controversial 1969 bestseller, THE HUMAN ZOO, renowned zoologist Desmond Morris argues that many of the social instabilities we face are largely a product of the artificial, impersonal confines of our urban surroundings. Indeed, our behavior often startlingly resembles that of captive animals, and our "developed" and "urbane" environment seems not so much a concrete jungle as it does a human zoo.

Animals do not normally exhibit stress, random violence, and erratic behavior—until they are confined. Similarly, the human propensity toward antisocial and sociopathic behavior is intensified in today’s cities. Morris argues that we are biologically still tribal and ill-equipped to thrive in the impersonal urban sprawl. As important and meaningful today as it was a quarter-century ago, THE HUMAN ZOO sounds an urgent warning and provides startling insight into our increasingly complex lives."Ambitious…compelling…concerned with the tension between our biology and our culture…in power, sex, status, and war games." —The New York Times



"Morris helps us take a new look at ourselves, not against the backdrop of our accepted culture, but against the wider vistas of our biological heritage." —The Chicago TribuneDESMOND MORRIS is the author of more than thirty books, including THE NAKED APE, INTIMATE BEHAVIOUR, and HUMAN ANIMAL. He lives in Oxford, England.