David and Goliath

Malcolm Gladwell argues that what look like disadvantages can turn out to be the source of an underdog's success. Beginning with the ancient contest between a shepherd boy and a giant warrior, he moves through case studies: lawyer David Boies and his dyslexia, oncologist Emil Freireich and the early loss of a parent, Vivek Ranadive and a girls' basketball team at a Redwood City middle school, class sizes, the civil rights campaign in Birmingham, the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and a French mountain town that sheltered Jewish refugees from the Nazis. Social science research anchors the stories. Despite generally negative reviews, it reached number 4 on the New York Times hardcover nonfiction list.

Scott's Cheap Flights co-founder Scott Keyes recommended Gladwell's books, this one included, for how he uses stories to make larger points. Visual marketer Robert Katai pointed readers to its stories of underdogs defeating giants.