Bronislaw Malinowski (1884–1942) was one of the most colorful and charismatic social scientists of the twentieth century. His contributions as a founding father of social anthropology and his complex personality earned him international notoriety and near-mythical status. This landmark book presents a vivid portrait of Malinowski’s early life, from his birth in Cracow to his departure in 1920 from the Trobriand Islands of the South Pacific. At the age of 36, he had already created the innovative fieldwork methods and techniques that would secure his intellectual legacy.

Drawing on an exceptionally rich array of primary documents, including Malinowski’s letters and unpublished diaries and manuscripts, Michael Young provides significant new information about the anthropologist’s personality, private life, and career. The author describes Malinowski’s restless life of travel, connections with intellectuals and artists, Nietzschean belief in his own destiny, and legendary fieldwork. The singular man who emerges from these pages fascinates on every level—as a volatile friend and lover, a provocative colleague, a passionate diarist, and a brilliant thinker who pioneered radical change in the field of anthropology.

迈克尔·扬（Michael Young），澳大利亚国立大学人类学教授，主要研究领域为巴布亚新几内亚和瓦努阿图人类学、人类学史、生活史。本书为其代表作，曾入围2005年詹姆斯·泰特·布莱克纪念奖（人物传记类），并于同年获得英国社会科学院图书奖。此外著有《抢夺食物：一个马辛社会中的领导、价值观和社会控制》（剑桥大学出版社，1971）、《马林诺夫斯基的基里维纳》（芝加哥大学出版社，1988）等。目前正在写作马林诺夫斯基传记的第二部。