The debate about race is back - and with a vengeance. In the past, scientific ideas of race reflected political ideas of inferiority and superiority, whereas today it reflects contemporary notions of diversity. Malik challenges both sides of the race debate, controversially revealing that it is not through the scientific study of human differences but through our political obsession with identity and diversity that racial ideas are once more catching fire. Weaving together politics, history, science, and philosophy, Strange Fruit discusses issues ranging from the science of skull measurement to the politics of the Holocaust; from diabetes rates among Hispanics to the fate of the Elgin Marbles; from the genetics of altruism to the struggle for Aboriginal rights; and, from the successes of Human Genome Project to the failures of multiculturalism. Huge in its reach and powerful in its grasp, the book uproots the conventional ways of thinking about race, science, and identity.

Society changes, science moves on, but race remains the most uneasy and confused of topics. Cutting through the confusion, Kenan Malik's lucid and vivid account is essential reading for anybody who wants to think sensibly about race and human diversity. Marek Kohn, Journalist and author of The Race Gallery: The Return of Racial Science Stripping away layers of pseudo-science and taken-for-granted prejudices, paying no dues to political correctness, he has written a penetrating critique. Adam Kuper, Professor of Anthropology, Brunel University, London Kenan Malik delivers a withering critique of what he sees as the racial view of the world. In doing so his arguments are a challenge to all those who seek to better understand the continuing debates about race and racism in our changing global environment. John Solomos, Head of the Sociology Department, City University, London and author of Race and Racism in Britain (2003)

Kenan Malik is a full-time writer and broadcaster, with articles appearing in publications including The Guardian, The Independent, The Spectator, New Statesman and The Financial Times, and with regular appearances on television and radio. He is the author of The Meaning of Race: Biology, History and Culture in Western Society,(Macmillan), and Man, Beast and Zombie: The New Science of the Human Condition, (Weidenfeld).