Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex Among Apes

What separates a person from a monkey? Less than many would like. And certainly not only humans know how to fight for power. In the 1970s, the then-still-young scientist Frans de Waal studied one of the largest chimpanzee colonies in the world living in the open at the Arnhem Zoo in the Netherlands. And he found that monkeys can behave as if they’ve read Machiavelli!

The first edition of the book was received well not only for its scientific achievements, but also for its deep understanding of the most basic human needs and behaviors. A quarter century and many reissues later, it came to be regarded as a classic. De Waal immerses the reader in a sharp, plot-driven world of intrigues among the highest primates. By describing rivalry and the formation of coalitions that require intelligence—not instincts—De Waal reminds us that the roots of politics are much older than human beings themselves.