An analysis of the impact of race on culture, featuring societies around the globe. Written by conservative economist Thomas Sowell and published in 1994 by Basic Books, Inc. of New York.
This work focuses on the impact of cultural patterns as they cross, or fail to cross, racial boundaries. Culture is defined as "...Those aspects of culture which provide the material requirements for life itself - the specific skills, general work habits, saving propensities and attitudes toward education and entrepreneurship - in short what economists call human capital (pp. xii)." The use of this definition is a fundamental element in Dr. Sowell's argument. In this book, he argues that these often-overlooked elements of culture are what will make or break not only the individual success, but will determine the overall success of that ethnic group in relation to the dominant culture.
The book is broken up into several parts: a world view, migration and culture, conquest and culture, race and intelligence, race and economics, race and politics, race and history, and race and slavery. In each section, he presents a detailed analysis of the current and historical patterns of culture which define a culture's economic and social success.