The Red Queen, by Matt Ridley, is an interesting analysis of human psychology and an introduction to evolutionary biology. It is a great motivator, and has me excited to start learning more. He has several claims that, while not fully justified, provide great examples to think about.

The Bad: It makes many broad claims without fully justifying them; though it does provide references to look at for more information. It also repeats itself several times in different chapters. Some of the examples also seemed a bit repetitive.

The Good: It is very good at motivating the subjects of evolutionary biology and evolutionary psychology. It explains a lot, and hints at methods to explain the nature of people. Many of the examples were quite interesting.

Overall, the book was a nice read to a non-expert. It is a good introduction to an interesting subject. It is nowhere near a textbook quality, but it doesn't aim to be. You will learn a little bit from the book, but it will mostly just get you excited to learn more from other books. The writing style is easy to read, and I'd have to give it a rating of 4.5/5. You would probably enjoy this book.

• Number of pages: ~350
• Date finished reading: 1/5/07
• Time spent reading: about 2 weeks
• Rating: 4.5/5 - a good read