Red: A History of the Redhead

Full disclosure: I originally bought this book because I've recently become friends with the author, and I thought it might be mildly interesting. I was wrong. It's fascinating. Around the central topic of red hair Jacky Colliss Harvey makes connections with genetics, evolutionary theory, history, mythology, art, literature, religion, and popular culture. All these topics are woven together as a narrative; you're reading a scholarly work (with an incredible amount of research) but you read it as a story, so well organized is it. The writing is superb; even complex sentences go smoothly and her descriptions of places and works of art are works of art themselves. Moreover, although a scholarly work, the personality of the author comes through. There is the perfect balance of academic fact with a conversational tone, treating the reader with respect. And you interact with the book (rather than reading it passively); I had fun realizing I knew some of the historical or factual or popular references, but equal fun looking up the ones I didn't know and, thus, learning even more. Finally, although I can't speak for most of the topics in the book, the areas that are my professional specialty (human evolution, genetics, and evolutionary theory) were all accurate and up-to-date. In short, one of the most pleasurable reading experiences of a nonfiction book I've had in a very long time.

This is an interesting history of red hair. It touches on the redhead through the lenses of history, society, sexuality, literature, art, and genetics. Lots of art, lots of pop culture, lots of history, lots of literature. I would have rather had more genetic stuff up front, but it was eventually discussed at the end. I could have done without the last chapter where she visited a redhead festival at Breda (it was journalistic and first person in a way I dislike). A good enjoyable book. I have a redheaded grandfather, aunts, mother, and wife. So, learn all about it!

I really enjoyed this book. It was fascinating to learn where the stereotypes that redheads are subjected to originated, and have the author trace these stereotypes through various times and cultures. The author's tone is very conversational, and her art history background is evident, both of which I really enjoyed. And I loved the package -- really beautiful. Fascinating book. Highly recommended.

I loved the contents of the book itself. The cover and pages were clean and fresh with out creases or marks. However, the physical pages were end cut in such way that the edges were all jagged and didn't align smoothly like a regualr book edge. It was very distarcting, looking as though the pages were just thrown into the cover. This has no refletion on the content of the book, of course--merely cosmetics. It just seemed out of place in a book that seemed entirely new and untouched to have such an unconventional edge.Basically, this book should have been marked as "irregular" rather than "used."But maybe it only bothered me because I am a Red Head...

This is an interesting book about myths and beliefs about red heads from history to modern times, with a section on red heads in art. It includes many negative opinions about red heads, which might make a red head get a bit paranoid and I would not like to have a young person read it and have it affect her self concept. I guess I would have liked a little more judgement on the truth of myths and how sexist and negative and ridiculous some of them were. There was a lot of back ground information and asides that were interesting.

The author mainly airs her opinions on redheaded exceptionalism, failing to live up to the "history" portion of her subtitle. If you want someone preaching that contemporary gingerism is a phenomenon outside of the UK and is as horrific as historic examples of racism or anti-Semitism, this is the book for you. If you'd prefer reading something more anthropologically and historically sound, look elsewhere.

As a natural 73 year old fair, freckled skin redhead, this is the first book I've ever heard about and read with history of red hair. I was tormented terribly as a child, right into adulthood. In my early teen years I bleached my hair with bleach! My Dad didn't speak to me for a week. Somewhere along the way I finally let all the ugly comments go and accepted my lot in life. Oh how I wish I could have read this book when I was much, much younger. Thank you Jacky Collins Harvey for showing me the way.

Perhaps I had unfair expectations for this book, but I found myself wanting the author to go into much more depth. Very simply written to the point that I found myself wondering if children were the target audience. Not being red-headed myself I don't want to downplay the struggles that red-headed people may experience, but I couldn't escape the nagging feeling that there are so many more relevant axes of oppression at play in our world today than the color of one's hair. Perhaps if the author had done a better job interrogating discrimination against red-heads and how it plays into forces like xenophobia or classism, or how people of color navigate red-headedness, it would've been a more insightful read.

This is a quite lovely, and utterly fascinating, guide to the subject of red hair. Taking in the science of red hair (how it isn’t a regressive gene at all); continuing with the startling facts that red-headed people feel pain more acutely than the rest of us and have their own scent; through how red-headed people have shown their presence in history and are regarded in art. And finally to the current day where hoary old jokes about redheads are called out for their offensiveness, and there are pride marches for red-headed people.I love this book! It’s a genuinely interesting read, crammed full of information I’d never heard before, all written in a chatty, breezy style which teaches you without you feeling like you’re having a lesson. For such a niche subject (it’s estimated that no more than 6% of the population has red hair, maybe even as low as 4%) the book feels all-encompassing. Taking in thousands of years of history, high art, advertising, science and literature, it remains focused while touching so many bases.I don’t have red hair myself, although have always had a thing for redheads. These days it’d be fair to say that I have a thing for one redhead – my gorgeous wife. Reading this book and seeing all the wonder that redheads have brought to the world (while suffering abuse for their beautiful hair colour) just makes me feel all the luckier.

Don't judge a book by its cover. This one is very attractive, but the contents are very dry and academic, with a very small number of illustrations which are mostly old paintings and very few photographs. This is no coffee table book celebrating red hair in glorious colour, it's an academic study of red hair throughout history. If you're looking for a lighthearted, fun approach to the topic look elsewhere.

A bit female orientated but expected with that being the sex of the writer. Fairly good read although some heavy bits with the art.

very unusual - it reads like a one episode TV special stretched to 3 seasons. Very unusual book, can't decide whether it is good ro otherwise. the sample does not really help as that was a fun read whereas the whole book is harder going.

Interesting book