This book attempts to understand an ancient people in terms of modern evolutionary biology. A basic idea is that Judaism is a group evolutionary strategy-what one might term an evolutionarily significant way for a group of people to get on in the world. The book documents several theoretically interesting aspects of group evolutionary strategies using Judaism as a case study. These topics include the theory of group evolutionary strategies; the genetic cohesion of Judaism; how Jews managed to erect and enforce barriers to gene flow between themselves and other peoples; resource competition between Jews and non-Jews; how Jews managed to have a high level of charity within their communities and at the same time prevented free-riding; how some groups of Jews came to have such high IQ's; and how Judaism developed in antiquity. This book was originally published in 1994 by Praeger Publishers. The Writers Club edition contains a new preface; Diaspora Peoples; describing several interesting group evolutionary strategies: The Gypsies; the Hutterites and Amish; the Calvinists and Puritans; and the Overseas Chinese.
#2358402 in Books Routledge 2000-05-18 2000-05-16Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.50 x 1.25 x 5.50l; 1.45 #File Name: 0582319900496 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. DisappointingBy CustomerAccording to the back cover; this book will be "greatly welcomed by those studying and teaching Russian history and politics" as well as "by all those with an interest in Imperial Russia." The first claim is true; the second is not. The volume consists primarily of lists starting with a general chronology and continuing with lists of individuals holding particular offices. There are also very short biographies of minor figures. Finally; there is a helpful bibliography. For the writer or a teacher preparing a lecture this volume provides an easy means for checking facts. For those with a general interest in Imperial Russia who would like a way to check the state of current scholarship regarding major figures or issues the work is of little value.
