Book excerpt: "In Shamans of the 20th Century, anthropologist Ruth-Inge Heinze takes a critical look at the global re-emergence of the shaman in the late twentieth century, redefiing the role of the shama at a time when we in the West are questioning both our ways of knowing and medical practice. A pioneering work, hers is a much needed synthesis between third-world and primal people's holistic understanding of healing as embracing the total human condition-social, emotional, psychological as well as physical, and the radically innovative stance of Western New Age healers. Elinor W. Gadon" -- Back cover.