(posted on my blog: davenichols.net)

Matt Ridley presents his arguments for the development of sexual reproduction through a variety of insights in The Red Queen. Much like the world in which Alice met the character referred to in the title, Ridley's approach is jumbled, disjointed, and too raggedly-paced to enjoy fully.

Ridley bases his thoughts on strong evolutionary arguments, such as those for sexual selection, arms races, and symbiogenesis. For the purely biological discussion, this works quite fine. However, as Ridley moves into human sociological and cultural points, which take up most of the book, he loses the narrative and often slips in assumptions which are either unproven or have (since publication in 1994) turned out to be wrong. This, combined with a ragged flow of thoughts and chapters which only marginally relate to each other, leaves the reader with a less-than-enthusiastic support for Ridley's thesis.

Still, there is much to glean in Red Queen, and Ridley certainly gets his facts in order when discussing biological aspects. Readers new to the subject should pick up some interesting tidbits, but should also update their knowledge with more recent works by Richard Dawkins and others. Ridley's later book Genome is much better written and presented, and is recommended to anyone who enjoys this book or wants to delve into genetics and disease. Three and one-half stars. ( )

Treats the evolution of sex and sexual behaviour in an interesting and clear fashion.
I found a lot of food for thought, but I would have preferred something more concise. ( )

The Red Queen- A topic for debate: Matt Ridley's book the red queen talks about human evolution, but also how our love lives are similar to animals. Matt writes this book with conviction and spreads his love of zoology onto us when he compares how similar the courting rituals of birds to humans.
Matt also opens us up to debate as in one of the chapters he mentions about sexual reproduction "why do we have sex, why not go asexual, that way we would waste less energy" He wants us to question things instead of just accepting things for what they are just because someone famous made a discovery. He also mentions about the psychology of men and women and how any why they are different, the roles of beauty and how that could attract parasites and that is what makes this book so interesting up to the final ending when he leaves with a final analogy in the end of the chapter in The intellutual chess game. Recommended Reading!!!

Although this is a well-written, interesting book, I couldn't help feeling that it was covering some familiar ground -- you may feel the same way if you have read a lot of Steven Pinker and Richard Dawkins. I enjoyed another of Matt Ridley's books, Genome, immensely, probably because much of it was new to me. ( )

While interesting and stimulating, in the end it became all a bit too much, especially as the style remains unchanged until the very last page. Glad I finished it. ( )