What can men in industrial nations learn from their "primitive" contemporaries, and the habits of earlier civilizations? This book by acclaimed cultural anthropologist Wilton S. Dillon suggests that modern political, religious, and scientific communities--and alliances--would be enhanced greatly if we understood how gift exchange and reciprocity helped to balance earlier institutions and societies.

Using the example of the gift behavior of France and the United States during the Marshall Plan period, Gifts and Nations examines the troubles that arise between donors and...