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  • Published: 3 October 2013
  • ISBN: 9780241959602
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 304

David and Goliath

Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants




A dazzling and provocative new book from the #1 bestselling author of The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers and What the Dog Saw

Why do underdogs succeed so much more than they should? How do the weak outsmart the strong? In David and Goliath Malcolm Gladwell takes us on a scintillating and surprising journey to uncover the hidden dynamics that shape the balance of power between the small and the mighty.

From the conflicts in Northern Ireland, through the tactics of civil rights leaders and the problem of privilege, Gladwell demonstrates how terribly we misunderstand the true meaning of advantage and disadvantage. When is a traumatic childhood a good thing? How can a disability leave someone better off? And do you really want your child to go to the best school he or she can get into?

Drawing on the stories of remarkable underdogs, history, science, psychology and his unparalleled ability to make the connections others miss, David and Goliath is a brilliant, illuminating book that overturns conventional thinking, and brings home the incredible leverage of the unexpected.

  • Published: 3 October 2013
  • ISBN: 9780241959602
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 304

About the author

Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell is the author of five international bestsellers: The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, What the Dog Saw, and David and Goliath. He is the host of the podcast Revisionist History and is a staff writer at The New Yorker. He was named one of the 100 most influential people by Time magazine and one of the Foreign Policy's Top Global Thinkers. Previously, he was a reporter with the Washington Post, where he covered business and science, and then served as the newspaper's New York City bureau chief. He graduated from the University of Toronto, Trinity College, with a degree in history. Gladwell was born in England and grew up in rural Ontario. He lives in New York.

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Praise for David and Goliath

When you read it, you feel like you can topple giants

Jon Ronson

I devoured it in a single reading, being a Gladwell addict for many years

Richard E. Grant

His most accessible book ... A Scheherazade for our time, talking to keep us going and make us think

Gaby Wood, Daily Telegraph

His best yet ... intoxicating, powerful ... more socially and morally engaged than his previous work

Oliver Burkeman, Guardian

A pleasure

Tim Adams, Observer

Lovely ... as with most of Gladwell's books he had me at hello - the initial thesis is simply irresistible

Leah McLaren, Globe and Mail

Truly intriguing and inspiring ... unforgettable

Hector Tobar, Los Angeles Times

As always, Gladwell's sweep is breathtaking and thought-provoking ... I've long admired Gladwell's work

Joe Nocera, The New York Times

Fascinating ... Gladwell is a master of synthesis. This perennially bestselling author prides himself on radical re-thinking and urges the rest of us to follow suit

Heller McAlpin, Washington Post

David and Goliath readers will travel with colorful characters who overcame great difficulties and learn fascinating facts about the Battle of Britain, cancer medicine and the struggle for civil rights, to name just a few topics upon which Mr. Gladwell's wide-ranging narrative touches. This is an entertaining book

Christopher F. Chabris, Wall Street Journal

What propels the book, like all of Gladwell's writing, is his intoxicating brand of storytelling. He is the master of mixing familiar elements with surprise counter-intuitions, and then seasoning with a sprinkling of scientific evidence ... Gladwell is a master craftsman, an outlier amongst authors

Rob Brooks, Huffington Post

Malcolm Gladwell's David and Goliath, an energetic, counterintuitive exploration of why (and how) underdogs succeed, and how disabilities, traumatic childhoods, and other seeming lacks can sometimes trump power

Guardian, Books of the Year 2013