This really fascinating and well-written book by the anthropologist E. E. Evans-Pritchard (no points for guessing his nationality!) describes the witchcraft beliefs which are central to the culture of the Azande people, a central African tribe whose lands span the modern C.A.R., D.R.C., and South Sudan. > https://monoskop.org/images/3/37/Evans_Pritchard_E_E_Witchcraft_Oracles_and_Magic_Among_the_Azande_1976.pdf His account is lucid and entertaining, and is entirely unpatronising towards the Azande and their culture. He neither condemns their practices as barbarian and ignorant, nor does he co-opt them as part of a grand anti-imperialist narrative in the manner of the postmodernists. In fact, even as Evans-Pritchard details the occasions on which he pushes back against his Azande hosts, and proffers rational criticisms of their beliefs, he is never smug or cynical. Instead, his account is generous, plainly curious, and underpinned by a clear regard for the Azande as being fellow rational and intelligent people. I find this to be so refreshing and impressive, when so much of anthropology seems ideologically poisoned. A rare example of someone willing to stop thinking about Galton or Fanon for long enough to actually meet the people they're supposed to be studying on their own terms.