This book draws upon modern genetic evidence to debunk the idea that "race" has a biological basis. The authors are well-qualified to write such a book. Both are curators at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, with DeSalle being at the Sackler Institute of Comparative Genomics. The authors previously combined efforts in writing the fine book Race?: Debunking a Scientific Myth.

The authors' main conclusion is that modern genomics (based on DNA analysis of people worldwide) refutes the idea that humans can be divided into the traditional categories of race. Among other aspects that challenge the racial categories is (a) that there are no objective criteria by which such categories can be identified genetically; and (b) that any categories one might seek to define intergrade imperceptibly with others. As noted back in the early 1960s by Frank Livingstone, "there are no human races, there are only clines". The authors devote one chapter specifically to refuting Nicolas Wade's A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race and Human History, a work widely disparaged by scholars for its flawed science and racialist perspective. In fact, their title is a riff on (and implicit rebuttal to) Wade's book.

I have mixed views on this book. On the one hand, the arguments are well-founded and convincing. On the other hand, the book is quite technical, and written well above the level of readers that lack training in genetics. Indeed, though a biologist (not a geneticist), I found much of it heavy going; and the color graphics (which I am glad were included) were of only marginal assistance. A much more effective work would have presented the genetic science in ways accessible to the educated reader. Such would not only have been possible, but should be viewed as essential. If another writer with expertise in human genomics were to undertake such a book, it could be a welcome addition to public discourse on one of the more important scientific issues of our time. ( )