Why did I love this book?
I've been recommending this brilliant re-appraisal of Darwinism to everyone I know (and plenty I don't!) for months.
The underlying message is that the author of Evolution of Species was a Victorian pater familias who considered women fit only for childbirth and domestic duties, incapable of rational decision-taking - a view he applied to females of all species from the great apes to nematode worms.
The idea that it's the male who chooses the female and so decides the path of evolution is blown out of the water by this marvelous book.
A group of young female scientists have been examining what actually happens in the natural world. It turns out it's not the peacock who takes the decision to sprout a gaudy bunch of feathers - and incidentally attracting every passing predator - but the little brown peahen encouraging him from the sidelines. Revolutionary, or what?
1 author picked Bitch as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
'A dazzling, funny and elegantly angry demolition of our preconceptions about female behaviour and sex in the animal kingdom ... Bitch is a blast. I read it, my jaw sagging in astonishment, jotting down favourite parts to send to friends and reading out snippets gleefully...' Observer
'A book that is tearing down the stereotypes and the biases. Absolutely fascinating.' BBC R4 Woman's Hour
'From the heir to Attenborough. 5*' - Telegraph
'Glorious ... A bold and gripping takedown of the sexist mythology baked into biology ... Full of marvellous surprises. Guardian
'Colourful, committed and deeply informed.' Sunday Times
'Gloriously original'…