i think engels' general thesis is cool in studying the formation of the state and family as we know it... hes just looking for answers in all the worst possible places. there are some pretty incredible applications of historical materialism here; specifically the last section dealing with the nature of the state that ended up contributing tons to lenins theory of the state in the state and revolution, its just that youre better off reading that one instead of this that STINKS of colonial anthropology and orientalism. engels cites morgan a lot who set up societies imitating native american life that they so graciously slaughtered and now revered. i think the portrayal of native american life here is flawed because neither morgan or engels are willing to confront the fact that the encountered "backwardness" of native life was a result of colonial disruption in their lives and economy especially as this book was written around the 1880s (i think could be later). i think the better material analyses on the state and family as an economic unit could be found in observing the more immediate history+theory of each idea (as angela davis does in the incredible last chapter of women race and class) and lenin does in s&r. both texts use this one as a starting point but they look for answers not in shaky colonial pseudocience but the stuff that actually affects peoples lives. either way kinda sorta recommended if you reallyyy feel the need to but you can get the best bits out of it from the texts that cite it more selectively

the verso intro content was incredible at least