James Suzman has a PhD in social anthropology and was the Smuts Fellow in African studies at Cambridge University. He wrote Work: A Deep History, from the Stone Age to the Age of Robots in 2021 and Affluence Without Abundance: The disappearing world of the Bushmen in 2017.

With a head full of Laurens van der Post and half an anthropology degree from St Andrews University under his belt, James Suzman hitched a ride into Botswana’s eastern Kalahari in June 1991. He has been working with the San (Bushmen) and other Kalahari peoples ever since.

About Work: “This book is a tour de force.” —Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Give and Take

About Affluence Without Abundance: “Insightful and well-written . . . [Suzman chronicles] how much humankind can still learn from the disappearing way of life of the most marginalized communities on earth.” —Yuval Noah Harari, author of Sapiens: A Brief History of Human Kind and Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow.

Washington Post’s 50 Notable Works of Nonfiction in 2017

An NPR Best Book of 2017