At the time of the original publication of this book, Richard B. Lee was Professor of Anthropology at the University of Toronto and Irven DeVore was Professor of Anthropology at Harvard University.

This book is the product of a number of years of work by a variety of specialists who each brought their various talents and techniques to bear in studying the behavior of a small group of people, the San (Bushman). The intention was to understand a way of life, not some limited aspect of human behavior. The importance of the San comes from the fundamental role which hunting has played in human history. Contemporary peoples who still rely on hunting help give us a deeper understanding of a major segment of human history. Kalahari Hunter-Gatherers is a collection of studies that is bound to be of interest to a broad range of social scientists and general readers.