First published in 1971, the book challenges the tendency to privilege sight and language in accounts of human experience, arguing that tactile contact is foundational to emotional, cognitive and social life.

Anthropologist Ashley Montagu brings together research from biology, psychology, anthropology and animal behaviour to investigate the skin as an organ of communication, attachment and psychological development. Moving between studies of infant development, maternal care, sensory deprivation and cross-cultural practices, Montagu examines how physical contact shapes our earliest understanding of the world, from spatial perception and bodily awareness to affection and interpersonal relationships.

Although aspects of its developmental science reflect the period in which it was written, the book remains an intriguing contribution to the study of embodiment, particularly where neuroscience, phenomenology and the social construction of bodily experience intersect.

Harper & Row, New York, 1978. Second edition, later paperback printing (number line dated 1985). Harper Colophon Books softcover. Fair to good vintage condition, with considerable edge wear, rubbing, creasing and a diagonal crease to the lower front cover.