Product Description

The definitive edition of Darwin's classic -- a brilliantly entertaining and accessible exploration of human and animal behaviour, reissued to mark the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth. Why do we bite people we feel affection towards? Why do dogs wag their tails? Or cats purr? Why do we get embarrassed, and why does embarrassment make us blush? These and many other questions about the emotional life of man and animals are answered in this remarkable book. Expression is the only book in which Darwin sketches out his revolutionary ideas about human behaviour in detail: he discusses childhood learning, insanity, painting and sculpture, animal behaviour and the differences in facial expression of the world's peoples.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #54552 in Books
• Published on: 1999-04-06
• Format: Special Edition
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

Review
'This is Darwin's most readable and human book, full of enchanting observations, provocative theories and remarkable photographs. This splendid new edition of Expression will introduce a new generation of readers to Darwin's masterpiece, undiminished and intensely relevant even 125 years after publication.' Oliver Sacks, author of The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat 'The Expression of the Emotions predates Freud, and it will still be illuminating human psychology long after Freud's discrediting is complete.' Richard Dawkins, author of The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion 'The appearance of this new edition of Darwin's extraordinary book is a major event in the human sciences. Here Darwin reminds us of his astonishing gifts of observation and explanation, offering insights that are delightful and fresh over a century later. Paul Ekman's reconstruction of this edition is an act of great scholarship. Everyone interested in emotion -- and who isn't? -- should be grateful to Ekman for this book.' Steven Pinker, author of The Language Instinct 'The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals! is Darwin's most extraordinary and approachable book, rich in observed detail and brilliant speculation, beautifully illustrated. This third edition, prepared and annotated by the great American psychologist of the emotions, Paul Ekman! is a major publishing event.' -- Ian McEwan

From the Publisher
some excerpts from the British reviews
‘The definitive work on the subject… a literary gem and a seminal scientific discourse.’ MICHAEL WHITE, Mail on Sunday

‘Darwin’s most engaging study, displaying all his redoubtable talents for uncovering hidden detail…brought smiles of delight to my face.’ ROY PORTER, The Times

‘Why do we shrug? Why do dogs wag their tails? Why do we scowl when angry and pout when sad rather than the other way around? What is the difference between guilt and shame? This would be an extraordinary book even it had only answered these and scores of similar questions about the emotions in 1872. But Expression also proved that the human mind, not just the body, is a product of evolution. It showed, during the heyday of scientific racism, that the races of mankind are fundamentally similar; anticipating virtually every twentieth-century behavioural science, from child development and psychopathology to ethnography, ethology, cognitive science, and europhysiology. It was the first scientific work to rely on photography. Expression is a captivating book…Darwin enriched his arguments with hundreds of insightful observations, many with the pathos and humour of great literature, as when he describes the terror of a man being led to his execution or the comical dejection of his dog as soon as it sensed that a walk might end…This edition has the feel not of a lovingly restored museum piece but of a recent seminal work that needed only minor updating. It is as fresh and provocative today as it was 125 years ago.’ STEVEN PINKER Science

‘A masterpiece’ Evening Standard

‘Darwin’s forgotten masterwork provides a combination of the voyeurism of a Desmond Morris book and the rigour of a Richard Dawkins tract.’ KENAN MALIK, Independent on Sunday

‘Excellent …both scholarly and lively.’ LAURENCE HURST, New Scientist

‘Highly original…a treasure trove of a third edition, this is scholarship at its best.’ SIMON BARON-COHEN, Nature

About the Author
Paul Ekman is Professor of Psychology (emeritus) at the Univesity of California Medical School, San Francisco. He is the author of 'Emotional Awareness' (co-authored with the Dalai Lama) and 'Emotions Revealed'. He is co-editor of 'Emotions Inside Out: 130 years After Darwin's Expression' and 'Telling Lies: Clues to Deceit in the Marketplace, Politics and Marriage'.

Customer Reviews

Get the right edition!
Darwin's book is seminal in the understanding of emotions, and is just as relevant today as it was when it was first published in 1872.

However, you must be careful to buy the right edition. In particular, Amazon is rather cavalier about sharing reviews and "search inside" images between different editions that just happen to have the same title. Don't let this mislead you.

Paul Ekman's definitive third edition published by Fontana [ISBN 0006387349] starts with the text and illustrations (including photographs) from the 1889 second edition, and includes further changes that Charles Darwin had indicated but which his son Francis did not include. Ekman adds further photographs and his own comments, which put the work fully into a modern context. It's a fine piece of scholarship.

On the other hand, the Filiquarian edition [ISBN 1599869152] is complete rubbish. It just reprints the freely available text of the second edition with no illustrations and no copy editing. Avoid it.

The Ekman edition fully deserves a 5* review, but I am only giving four because Amazon will attach this review to all the editions, and I want you to read it and realise the difference!

great book shame about the illustrations
this book is an amazing insight into nature and emotions, but i was very dissapointed when i recieved The Echo Library (1 Oct 2007)version which had no references or illustrations and is a dreadful reproduction of this classic work. i had to buy it again this time the by Charles Darwin and Paul Ekman (Paperback - 6 April 1999)version. i would have hoped a more recent publication would be better but alas not. stear well clear of the echo library 2007 version.