"The People of the Sierra" presents an engrossing account of the social structure of a rural community in Andalusia, the mountainous region of southern Spain. The author applies the principles of social anthropology, without recourse to jargon, to determine the nature of the leaders of a European peasant society the mayor, doctor, lawyer, priest and also the smugglers, bandits, "witches," and gypsies who live on the fringe.
For his second edition of "The People of the Sierra" Julian A. Pitt-River has unmasked the village of Grazalema which had been protectively cloaked in pseudonym for...