3,000 years ago, in ancient Palestine, a young shepherd boy defeated a fearsome warrior with nothing but a stone and a slingshot.

Since then, David and Goliath have symbolized every battle between an underdog and a giant. David shouldn't have won. Or should he have?

In "David and Goliath," Gladwell tells the true story of the showdown between the giant and the shepherd. He then examines the troubles in Northern Ireland, the thinking of cancer researchers and civil rights leaders, the murder and high cost of revenge, and the dynamics of "successful" and "unsuccessful" classrooms to prove that often, important things are born out of hardships and adversities.

Malcolm Gladwell criticizes the way we perceive advantages and disadvantages and proposes a new theory that helps us understand what it means to experience discrimination, to struggle to overcome a disability, to lose a parent, or to face other apparent setbacks.

Like his previous bestsellers, in "David and Goliath," Gladwell offers an original, enjoyable, and useful book, drawing elements from history, psychology, and the art of storytelling to reshape the way we see the world.