First published in 1940, this study has become one of the classic works in social anthropology. The Nuer of the Southern Sudan are predominantly a pastoral people, and the fisrt part of the book describes their life as herdsmen, fishermen, and gardeners. Their aconomic life is related to the absence of chieftainship and their democratic sentiment. The second part of the book describes this political system which lacks goverment and is wothout legal institutions.