Includes index.

Introduction. Goliath. "Am I a dog that you should come to me with sticks?" --
Pt. 1. The advantages of disadvantages (and the disadvantages of advantages) --
Ch. 1. Vivek Ranadive. "It was really random. I mean, my father had never played basketball." --
Ch. 2. Teresa DeBrito. "My largest class was twenty-nine kids. Oh, it was fun." --
Ch. 3. Caroline Sacks. "If I'd gone to the University of Maryland, I'd still be in science." --
Pt. 2. The theory of desirable difficulty --
Ch. 4. David Boies. You wouldn't wish dyslexia on your child. Or would you? --
Ch. 5. Emil "Jay" Freireich. "How Jay did it, I don't know." --
Ch. 6. Wyatt Walker. "De rabbit is de slickest o' all de animals de Lawd ever made." --
Pt. 3. The limits of power --
Ch. 7. Rosemary Lawlor. "I wasn't born that way. This way forced upon me." --
Ch. 8. Wilma Derksen. "We have all done something dreadful in our lives, or have felt the urge to." --
Ch. 9. André Trocmé "We feel obliged to tell you that there are among us a certain number of Jews."

What if everything we thought about power was wrong? What if, in the ancient story of the shepherd boy who topples a giant, David actually had the advantage? This thought sets Malcolm Gladwell on an extraordinary journey that takes him from art to basketball, the brain to revolutions, along the way weaving unforgettable stories of misfits, outsiders, tricksters and underdogs who have faced outsized challenges and won. With his trademark warmth, humour and gift for showing us the world through new eyes, Gladwell lets us see why the powerful aren't always what we think they are - and that some of us have more strength and purpose than we could ever imagine.