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Ashley Montagu

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Touching: The Human Significance of the Skin Paperback – September 10, 1986

by Ashley Montagu (Author)

4.7 132 ratings

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With more than 300,000 copies sold, this landmark book is an impressive examination of the importance of touching. "All professionals concerned with human behavior will find something of value. . . . Parents . . . can gain insight into the nurturing needs of infants."--Janet Rhoads, American Journal of Occupational Therapy

Length

512
Pages
Language

EN
English
Publisher

William Morrow Paperbacks
Publication date

1986
September 10
Dimensions

5.3 x 1.2 x 8.0
inches
ISBN-10

0060960280
ISBN-13

978-0060960285
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Dr. Montagu has produced a fascinating analysis...which should be read by all students of human behavior."

" -- Loren Eiseley""Excellent and well-documented."

" -- Psychology Today""The mother and father of all books written on touch."

" -- Dr. Jules Older"

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Morrow Paperbacks; 3rd edition (September 10, 1986)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 512 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0060960280
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0060960285
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.7 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.31 x 1.15 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #107,649 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #13 in Dermatology (Books)
- #177 in Medical General Psychology
- #437 in Mental & Spiritual Healing

Customer Reviews:
4.7 132 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5

132 global ratings

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Tara Green

This book saved 2 lives

Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2013

Verified Purchase

I discovered this book after my son was born severely premature after 23.5 weeks gestation, weighing only 1 lbs 10 oz. The doctors told me he had 0% chance for survival. Someone suggested that I read this book. In the first 3 weeks of his little life, I was not able to touch him because his system was too sensitive for even the slightest stimulation. So I read this book. At first it scared me that not being able to touch, hold, or cradle him might effect his willingness to live. Even though I couldn't touch him, I was grateful that the nurses who were constantly touching him. As he grew more tolerant, I was able to touch him with a fingertip, then a couple of fingers, until I was able to gradually lay my hand on him. It is hard to explain what it was like to be a Mom and not able to touch or hold your baby. After the 3rd week, he needed to get a PDA surgery to close a valve in his heart to support his breathing. The doctors were certain he would not survive the surgery. So one nurse figured that since he would die, I might as well hold him one time while he was living. I, myself, grew up in a home where affection was not practiced and it was awkward for me. This moment I got to hold my son erased all of my past issues with touching and being affectionate. I was sure that once I got to hold my son and he could hear my heartbeat, he would survive anything just to return to that feeling again. He survived the surgery. Every chance I got, I would lay still for hours at a time with him on my bare chest. I remember needing to release my bladder, but holding it for hours so I wouldn't disturb these precious moments of constant touch. I watched as other moms in the NICU would hold their babies with their clothes on, I knew the importance of us being skin to skin because of this book. The doctors warned me that even if he did live, he would suffer undoubtedly with mental, emotional, and cognitive problems, physical/motor deficits, respiratory problems, and learning disabilities. I just kept holding him and praying. Even when he was able to come home, and he was on oxygen and hooked up to an apnea machine, I kept my son laying on me. Today, he is 9 years old with not 1 disability. Even though he is in the 4th grade, he reads and comprehends at a 10th grade level. This book taught me about the healing power of touch and my son is evidence of just how powerful it is. My son is very sensitive, caring, considerate, and intuitive. I owe it to the messages he picked up on from us being in constant touch. It gave him a will to live. I am grateful for this book. It healed my son, and surprisingly it healed me of my own struggles with being affectionate. Thank you.

71 people found this helpful

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Vanessa

Comprehensive and compelling

Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2022

Verified Purchase

This book may look like a novel from afar, but it's brimming with research and scientific studies. The author makes reference to studies that are probably some of the earliest research done on skin and touch, so I would think some of the animal experiments might be unethical in the 21st century, but insightful nonetheless.

Despite that I'm not interested in pregnancy or having children, the author also spends a good deal of writing exploring the touch relationship and necessity of touch throughout pregnancy and infancy, across animal and human studies, which I found very interesting and useful for further understanding the importance of touch.

I am a massage therapist, so I value touch. But this book has impacted my opinion in that I no longer see touch as simply valuable, but rather as the most significant need of living beings.

Maybe an old book, but definitely still relevant and an excellent read!

2 people found this helpful

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Skyclemons

Excellent reference for touch

Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2023

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This book really dives into the human need for touch. Very well thought out and tons of references

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Ronald J Wroblewski

How vital being touched is to human development

Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2022

Verified Purchase

Total like. Show how vital human touch is to both development and happiness in life. Great author - I went to one of his lectures many years ago. A question was asked him - anything you regret in your life. He said "the books I didn't buy". He had a personal library of 5000 books.

2 people found this helpful

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Peter S. Lunde

and the like. Nothing short of language itself has such a ...

Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2014

Verified Purchase

This is one of those books that simply informs deeply into the brain and memory. When I was a boy, my father taught at Rutgers University, and one of the professors there was Ashley Montagu. He was tall, lean, white haired, and very English. Behind him I remember a fetus in a jar, and he explained that this was the son of a student who wanted to give him her stillborn child "for science." Years later, he sent me an autographed copy of this book, and I remember the clarity of the writing and the humaneness of the content. Montagu tells us that of all things important to humans, the earliest sensations are from the skin and the exposure to touching. A mother's breast, a father's strong arms, a siblings playing with fingers, and the like. Nothing short of language itself has such a powerful impact on healthy and normal human development. Read this and be enlightened by a great mind and scientist. There are not many around like him anymore.

17 people found this helpful

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aproductofsociety

Intriguing and exhaustively researched book on a neglected sense

Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2017

Verified Purchase

This is a very informative treatise on touching and its importance to human development. It may be dated (I'm not sure...) but the conclusion that touching or its absence is of central importance to a newborn's physical functioning and psychological and social development is exhaustively documented with many, many scientific studies.

If I could go back in time I would have had my mother read this book before I was born. Things might be very different today!

14 people found this helpful

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Reader 17

Saving of a Child

Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2011

Verified Purchase

This book can be credited with saving our premature child. Our daughter was in ICU. I went to check on her. Unknown to me, in the hallway, I passed my wife's Dr. who was about to tell my wife the child was dying.

Entering ICU, I sat at her table and remembered reading in Dr Montague's book that touching had a positive effect on newborns. I began stroking her back and talking to her about her sisters and a puppy that was waiting for her at home. The nurse came to me and asked what I was doing. Thinking she thought I was doing something wrong, I stopped. She said to continue whatever it was because the respirator showed our daughter's breathing was improving. I sat with her and continued for an hour or so.

The next morning I went to see my wife and ask that she return with me. It wasn't until then that I heard the Dr. 's prognosis. I was credited with saving my daughter by the nurses. I bought a copy of the book for the hospital library and recommend it to all who are expecting.

70 people found this helpful

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Sophie RV

Extensive exploration of the skin & touch in humans and mammals.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 3, 2013

Verified Purchase

Almost a classic. It would be great to have an updated version with the very latest research on this topic. Some things, such as SIDS (cot death) causes etc. is dated and we causes have been researched in great depth over the last 15 years.
Anyone interested in massage, childcare, maternity care, the senses or just interested in LOVE and how important positive touch is, may find it essential reading.

One person found this helpful

Miguel Rodriguez

Brillante

Reviewed in Spain on September 13, 2019

Verified Purchase

Lectura necesaria (es posible que existan ediciones más nuevas). Explica la importancia de el contacto corpóreo en diferentes ámbitos del modo del ser humano y sus posibles implicaciones, al igual que las implicaciones del no contacto en determinadas situaciones (como la infiancia).

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Anna P

Great reading!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 28, 2013

Verified Purchase

A must for every therapist! I strongly recommend this book for every therapist as it is full of very important things big and small. It makes a difference if we know them. Quick delivery, very good quality, all as described, thank you

One person found this helpful

Coldnight

Love it

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 18, 2017

Verified Purchase

Hasn't lost anything since I first read it many years ago. Updated but not in any way debased by being so.

Nicolas Auclaire

but all good in the end

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 22, 2015

Verified Purchase

Took a while to get to me, but all good in the end. A great book for parents and massage enthusiasts/professionals alike...

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