I found the pictures to be great as I was looking to find out more about tribal designs from many cultures. I was served well with pictures, but not so well with explanations of what the tattoo was, what it meant, which class would wear it in society, how it was applied, the history behind the tradition, etc.

I am using the book as a reference and find that it only becomes great with supporting articles. I had done extensive reading on tribal traditions from around the world and found that this book served well as a companion to these and other articles, but not as a stand alone book. Without the history behind the pictures, you loose the whole meaning.

I strongly recommed this book, be it as a source book or simply for a tattoo enthusiaste. However, I would urge everyone to supplement this book with further readings on the matter.


Let's get tribal   March 25, 2002
 7 out of 9 found this review helpful

I thoughly enjoyed this book, as it contains numerous serious
tribal body art designs. My only quibble is that the illustrat-
ions and pages were very small, and it was sometimes hard to pick
out the designs, especially on the Scythians. If only it were
larger in pagination, and illustration!