Perspective

Edward T. Hall is a distinguished anthropologist and author. His previous books are "The Silent Language," "The Hidden Dimension" and with his wife, Mildred Reed Hall, "Hidden Differences." Hall states that the objective of this book is to raise awareness of the latent, subconscious aspects of culture, to conscious awareness and recognition, so that the issues of modern man's crisis in relation to his own and other people's extensions ideas and institutions can be resolved. His emphasis is on the nonverbal, unstated realm of culture rather than the aspects that deal with philosophy, religion, language and art.

The author presents his ideas in a non-technical form to an intended audience of non-specialist readers. A lot of the material is presented in anecdotal form, but there are abundant references for the reader who wants to delve deeper into the many subjects that are broached. A highly significant aspect of...