THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
AS HEARD ON BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK
‘The ultimate anti-racism guide’ Caroline Criado Perez
‘Seriously important’ Bill Bryson
‘A fascinating debunking of racial pseudoscience’ Guardian
Racist pseudoscience may be on the rise, but science is no ally to racists. Instead science and history can be powerful allies against bigotry, granting us the clearest view of how people actually are, rather than how we judge them to be. HOW TO ARGUE WITH A RACIST dismantles outdated notions of race by illuminating what modern genetics can and can’t tell us about human difference. It is a vital manifesto for a twenty-first century understanding of human evolution and variation, and a timely weapon against the misuse of science to justify racism.
Updated edition includes a new Preface from the author
AS HEARD ON BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK
‘The ultimate anti-racism guide’ Caroline Criado Perez
‘Seriously important’ Bill Bryson
‘A fascinating debunking of racial pseudoscience’ Guardian
Racist pseudoscience may be on the rise, but science is no ally to racists. Instead science and history can be powerful allies against bigotry, granting us the clearest view of how people actually are, rather than how we judge them to be. HOW TO ARGUE WITH A RACIST dismantles outdated notions of race by illuminating what modern genetics can and can’t tell us about human difference. It is a vital manifesto for a twenty-first century understanding of human evolution and variation, and a timely weapon against the misuse of science to justify racism.
Updated edition includes a new Preface from the author
Newsletter Signup
By clicking ‘Sign Up,’ I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Hachette Book Group’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
Reviews
One of the most pleasing observations offered by Adam Rutherford, a great communicator who knows how to simplify difficult concepts, is that the racist you are arguing with will themself be far from racially pure
A fascinating debunking of racial pseudoscience . . . engaging and enlightening . . . equip[s] the reader with the scientific tools necessary to tackle questions concerning race, genes and ancestry
HOW TO ARGUE WITH A RACIST smashes race myths that plague society
For centuries science has been used and abused by racists. This book wrests it from their grubby hands by showing that race is biologically meaningless and that modern genetic science is a racist's worst enemy. Along the way Adam Rutherford reveals that you are related to royalty, that every Nazi had Jewish ancestors and that you share no DNA with half your ancestors. A critical book on a critical issue
Vital
A fascinating and timely refutation of the casual racism on the rise around the world. The ultimate anti-racism guide for data-lovers everywhere
Not only shows what science really says about race, ancestry and genetics, but also helps us argue against the idea that certain people are biologically inferior and encourages informed conversations about race . . . This book's gift is to use science to talk about a pseudoscience
Adam Rutherford is the perfect writer to arm you with evidence
If teaching is what makes humans special, then Adam Rutherford is superhuman - a truly gifted transmitter of knowledge: lucid, enlightening, witty and delightful
Timely and accessible
A remarkable telling of the shared ancestry of the human race. The book is a treasure trove filled with gems of knowledge from the field of genetics and what it knows about skin colour, intelligence, ancestry, athletic ability and racial superiority. The reader is provided the fascinating scientific weaponry to confidently take on questions about race, genes, ancestry. Ultimately, Rutherford's book is a challenge against the manipulation, misrepresentation, and abuse of science to justify hatred and prejudice
Adam Rutherford is a master storyteller
How to Argue with a Racist is doubtlessly one of the most important reads of the year. But it's arguably the most interesting too . . . Engaging and thought-provoking throughout
Rutherford, a geneticist, debunks racist pseudoscience, showing that everyone's ancestry is cosmopolitan in a stylish, punchy, myth-busting study
Stylish and punchy
Brilliant, succinct genetics for the uninitiated
Characteristically far-reaching, insightful and brilliant, Adam Rutherford casts his net wide in a book that is as timely as it is invigorating and important
Admirable . . . The reader will be similarly enriched by the quick blood of this book
A counter-blast to those who would use science to justify prejudice
Nobody deals with challenging subjects more interestingly and compellingly than Adam Rutherford, and this may be his best book yet. This is a seriously important work
[An] enthralling, illuminating book
A book that could save lives
Elucidating, enabling, and powerful in its simplicity, everyone should have a copy of this book
This fascinating, illuminating and original book on human evolution and development is essential reading in an age of false science, resurgent racism and conspiracy theory - and the perfect antidote to racial bigotry
Dr Adam Rutherford has a gift for making complicated concepts simple
Enlightening and entertaining
Poignant . . . A timely weapon against the misuse of science to justify bigotry and casual racism