Mary Douglas is a central figure within British social anthropology. Studying under Evans-Pritchard at Oxford immediately after the war, she formed part of the group of anthropologists who established social anthropology's standing in the world of scholarship. Her works, spanning the second half of the twentieth century, have been widely read and her theories applied across the social sciences and humanities.

'Natural Symbols is clearly a major work in the greatest of sociological traditions, the Durkheimian. It has an originality unmatched for a generation among the writings of anthropologists. It raises questions that are important and soluble not in the field but by the harder, less inviting, work of reflection and analysis.' - Times Literary Supplement

'Natural Symbols remains the book most important to understanding Mary Douglas's thought, and this fact places it amongst the most significant books of theory written by anthropologists during the twentieth century.' - Richard Fardon, SOAS

'As timeless as the subtitle. Essential reading for all those enthralled by her brilliant insights into the meaning of the Bible thirty years on.' - John Sawyer, Department of Religious Studies, Lancaster University

'Mary Douglas's writing remains as fresh and vivid as ever. The ideas put forward in Natural Symbols have been taken up well beyond the discipline of anthropology, and should remain compulsory reading for all students of religion and society.' - Fiona Bowie, University of Bristol

It has an originality unmatched for a generation among the writings of anthropologists. - Times Literary Supplement