John Derbyshire writes:
All three of these books are very naughty indeed—naughtier, relative to our dominant social attitudes, than anything available in 1963 Soho. The topics they discuss are radioactive. “Discrimination is irrelevant”? “Middle-class social traits…inculcated genetically”? “Race and sex differences in intelligence and personality”? Good grief! Pass the smelling salts, Lucy.
However, as with the stock of low-end Charing Cross Road bookstores fifty years ago, the topics dealt with here are of wide, if guilty, interest. How much social mobility would there be in a perfectly meritocratic society? How has human genetics helped shape human history? Why are some nations richer and more orderly than others? Every thoughtful person has pondered these things at some point. Why not find out what has been learned by scholars who have spent their lives elbow-deep in the data? I predict good sales.
