Adrian Desmond and James C. Moore’s 1991 biography of Charles Darwin was described by Stephen Jay Gould as “unquestionably the finest biography ever written about Darwin.” Now, just in time for the worldwide Darwin bicentenary celebrations in February 2009, Desmond and Moore have joined up once again to write a truly groundbreaking book on Darwin and race.
The book is called Darwin’s Sacred Cause: How a Hatred of Slavery Shaped Darwin’s Views on Human Evolution (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, January 28, 2009, ISBN-13: 9780547055268, $30)—and it offers a completely new explanation of how (and why) Darwin came to his shattering theories about human origins.
In this major and controversial reinterpretation of Darwin’s life and work, Desmond and Moore argue that the driving force behind Darwin’s theory of evolution was his fierce abolitionism, which had deep roots in his mother’s family and was reinforced by his voyage on the Beagle as well as by events in America—from the Civil War to the arrival of scientific racism at Harvard. It’s a very American story, and an entirely new look at one of our greatest scientific icons.
Drawing on unpublished letters and notebooks, as well as many other sources, Desmond and Moore radically reinterpret Darwin’s Descent of Man, making the case that Darwin’s theory of sexual selection was, for him, a way to unify the human races by means of evolution: if skin color, stature, hair type, etc. are a function of mate selection, not speciation, then blacks and whites—indeed, all races—are part of a single human family.
ADRIAN DESMOND and JAMES MOORE are the world’s authorities on Darwin’s life—the authors of a dozen books between them on Darwin and evolution. Their acclaimed Darwin (1991) won many awards, including the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the Comisso Grand Prize in Italy, and the Watson Davis Prize from the History of Science Society.
Darwin’s Sacred Cause: How a Hatred of Slavery Shaped Darwin’s Views on Human Evolution
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Company
January 28, 2009
ISBN-13: 9780547055268
$30
CONTACT: Patrice Taddonio, Publicist
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Company
