A CCBC Choice

"Fresh, spirited, and unconventional."—Kirkus Reviews

"A lively, entertaining presentation."—Booklist

"Kids will enjoy this brush with greatness."—Bulletin

"Krull's brief biographies provide basic facts as well as intriguing details. The subjects chosen range from the famous (Michelangelo Buonarroti) to the infamous (Andy Warhol) to the less well known. Hewitt's caricaturelike illustrations reflect and extend the lively text."—Horn Book

This book is based on the enlightened idea that psychological rather than diabolical forces are responsible for evil in the world. Specifically, lack of empathy causes a wide variety of serious pathological states from psychopathy, extreme narcissism, and borderline personality disorder to debilitating though potentially positive disorders like classic autism and Asperger's syndrome. Baron-Cohen (experimental psychology & psychiatry, Univ. of Cambridge;Mindreading: The Interactive Guide to Emotions) describes an empathy measure and traces its association with an "empathy circuit" in the brain and empathy genes. His prior works and numerous journal articles reflect his commitment to this topic for over 30 years. While social and environmental factors are discussed, the focus is on a brain-based theory of behavior. Baron-Cohen concludes with a summary of his ten new ideas, treatment for empathy deficits, a discussion of "superempathy" (e.g., Desmond Tutu), and a proposal to acknowledge empathy-based disorders in the standard psychiatric lexicon. VERDICT Clearly written and succinct, this book will enrich but not overwhelm interested readers, although some may bristle at using the same explanatory construct for autism and psychopathy. It provides a useful perspective for understanding human pathology, including events like Columbine and the Holocaust.—Antoinette Brinkman, MLS, Evansville, IN

Fresh, compelling analysis of the human capacity for cruelty, and how redefining evil in terms of empathy can reveal new psychological insights.

Baron-Cohen (Developmental Psychopathology/Univ. of Cambridge; The Essential Difference: The Truth About the Male and Female Brain, 2003, etc.) has spent 30 years researching autism and its neurological relationship with empathy,defined asthe ability to identify another's thoughts or feelings and respond appropriately. Historical examples of evil, such as Nazi torture, can be examined in light of this "empathy quotient," andthe author argues that everyone lies somewhere on the "empathy spectrum." Baron-Cohenexplores the complex interplay between social and genetic factors that results in an individual having a high or low level of empathy.Low or zero levels can result in cruel or hurtful behavior, though not always; a variety of factors, including early-childhood parenting, affect individual behavior. The author suggests that modern psychiatry, which identifies "personality disorders" as borderline, narcissistic or psychopathic, can reconceptualize these categorizations by instead classifying them as examples of zero degrees of empathy. Doing so would encourage new social and scientific approaches to diagnosis and treatment options, and may have long-term effects on how societies treat affected individuals. Baron-Cohen raises and effectively parses tricky ethical and biological questions (Should a person with zeroempathyserve prison time for acrime he doesn't understand was wrong? Is there an "empathy gene"?), backing up his arguments with scientific research. He also makes a point to declare his book an attempt to "restimulate discussion on the causes of evil by moving the debate out of the realm of religion and into the realm of science." Biological and psychological factors, not religious belief, he argues, determine cruel behavior. Only by examining the roots of those factors can we begin to understand empathy, which he calls "the most valuable resource in our world."

Baron-Cohen's theory isexhilarating in its implications.