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David and Goliath
Explore the power of the underdog in Malcolm Gladwell's dazzling examination of success, motivation, and the role of adversity in shaping our lives, from the bestselling author of The Bomber Mafia.
Three thousand years ago on a battlefield in ancient Palestine, a shepherd boy felled a mighty warrior with nothing more than a stone and a sling, and ever since then the names of David and Goliath have stood for battles between underdogs and giants. David's victory was improbable and miraculous. He shouldn't have won.
Or should he have?
In David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwellchallenges how we think about obstacles and disadvantages, offering a new interpretation of what it means to be discriminated against, or cope with a disability, or lose a parent, or attend a mediocre school, or suffer from any number of other apparent setbacks.
Gladwell begins with the real story of what happened between the giant and the shepherd boy those many years ago. From there, David and Goliath examines Northern Ireland's Troubles, the minds of cancer researchers and civil rights leaders, murder and the high costs of revenge, and the dynamics of successful and unsuccessful classrooms—all to demonstrate how much of what is beautiful and important in the world arises from what looks like suffering and adversity.
In the tradition of Gladwell's previous bestsellers—The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers and What the Dog Saw—David and Goliath draws upon history, psychology, and powerful storytelling to reshape the way we think of the world around us.
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Reviews
Pretty good
By Bob4674:
In David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell, I like how he has different sources of reliability so that it shows his readers how the opinions of people in it are credible. I thought that it helped that he included sports references because it helped me to better understand his main ideas and concepts. I found his stories very interesting and those examples gave me the ability to understand what he was saying and what he meant.However I feel like he tells a lot of stories and uses them to carry across his points rather than arguing. On the other hand this book was the perfect length and didn't discourage me at all.
By ian ordenes
Easy to read, with interesting historical facts that will without a doubt, change the way you look at “competition” that involves an “underdog”.
By ZMOA8819
Gladwell possesses a beautiful writing style that can pull you into any topic in a way, such that you never want to pull away. He applies that skill masterfully here in assessing the true nature of Strengths and Weaknesses. Navigating through different periods of history he dissects Paper Champions (Goliaths) who lost to or at least could not dissuade the Davids on the other side of the valley. Using the narratives of the overlooked stories of the voices history often forgets, Gladwell demonstrates three key phenomena that demonstrate how we often over estimate strengths and focus in too greatly on apparent weaknesses. Without giving away spoilers, the three concepts I found most fascinating in this book were most importantly, our inability to see past advantageous and disadvantages on the surface. The tale of David and Goliath being the most prominent allegory of this dilema. The second key concept is the problem of the Inverted U-Shaped Curve. This problem illustrates how more is not often better and after a certain point does more harm than good; i.e. you cannot always just throw money and resources at the problem. Lastly, Gladwell does a great job detailing how Power / Leadership cannot succeed without Legitimacy. Moreover, that it cannot be won through brute force but must happen at the ground level, eye-to-eye. Every time I read Gladwell, I feel like I am getting a MasterClass in history. Talking to Strangers remains my favorite of his books but they are all amazing in their own way. This one in particular is especially meaningful right now in 2020. The stories and perspectives in it may be the best guide on how to persevere and resist in the face of seemingly overwhelming circumstances.
By Richard Bakare
っまみさはららのでまさ かな(^-^)/やなラにはな(^-^)/まなやかかなわやになもやかささたやわは
By Guido219