120,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock πŸ‡³πŸ‡Ώ

Come visit us this weekend! Our New Bookshop is open 8:30am-5:00pm Sat & Sun πŸŽ‰

The Bell Curve

Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life
3.6 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating.
( 3,448 ratings, 352 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Bell Curve by Charles Murray and Richard J. Herrnstein explores the role of intelligence in American society. It discusses how cognitive ability impacts various outcomes, such as education, employment, and social standing. The book also examines the controversial link between intelligence and genetics, raising debates on social policies and inequality.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$5399
OVERNIGHT NZ-WIDE DELIVERY

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you're interested in exploring the controversial discussions surrounding intelligence and public policy. It offers an in-depth analysis of cognitive abilities and their influence on social structure while engaging with debates in the realms of politics and current affairs.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

Synopsis coming soon.......

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

The Bell Curve is a controversial book that explores the connection between intelligence, class, and race in modern society. It delves into what public policy can do to address socioeconomic differences in IQ, birth rate, crime, fertility, welfare, and poverty.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

The Bell Curve has stirred significant controversy, sparking reactions that range from high praise to sharp criticism. Some reviewers compare it to landmark intellectual works, lauding its comprehensive analysis and thought-provoking nature. However, others highlight its contentious reception, describing it as a provocative social science book that has faced accusations of pseudoscience and elitism. Despite this, the book is acknowledged for its meticulous research and clear writing, with a call for open debate on its challenging themes.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780684824291

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 07 February 1996

Country: United States

Imprint: The Free Press

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 41.0mm

Width: 156.0mm

Height: 235.0mm

Weight: 912g

Pages: 912

About the Author

Richard J. Herrnstein held the Edger Pierce Chair in Psychology at Harvard University until his death in 1994.

Also by Charles Murray

View all
  • Taking Religion Seriously
    "Millions are like me when it comes to religion: well-educated and successful people for whom religion has been irrelevant," Charles Murray writes. "For them, I think I have a story worth telling." Taking Religion Seriously is Murray's autobiographical account of a decades-long evolution in his stance towards the idea of God in general and Christianity specifically. He argues that religion...
    Hardback
    $7200
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks
  • Coming Apart
    From the bestselling author of Losing Ground and The Bell Curve, Coming Apart is a harrowing portrait of the haves and have-nots of white America. NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. A fascinating explanation for why white America has become fractured and divided in education and class, from the acclaimed author of Human Diversity. "I'll be shocked if there's another book that...
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • Human Diversity
    The thesis of Human Diversity is that advances in genetics and neuroscience are overthrowing an intellectual orthodoxy that has ruled the social sciences for decades. The core of the orthodoxy consists of three dogmas: Gender is a social construct. Race is a social construct. Class is a function of privilege. The problem is that all three dogmas are half-truths. They...
    Hardback
    Sold Out
  • Facing Reality
    In his newest book, Facing Reality, Charles Murray fearlessly states two controversial truths about the American population: American whites, blacks, Hispanics, and Asians have different violent crime rates and different means and distributions of cognitive ability. If we aim to navigate public policy with wisdom and realism, these realities must be brought into the light. Facing Reality provides a powerful...
    Hardback
    Sold Out

More from Politics & Current Affairs

View all
  • One Last Question, Prime Minister
    From Muldoon to Luxon, untold stories from the House of Parliament Barry Soper has spent close to five decades questioning New Zealand's prime ministers.From the imposing, larger-than-life characters of Rob Muldoon and David Lange, to the golden age of Helen Clark and John Key, and the post-Covid era of Jacinda Ardern and the 'Chrises', Soper's insight and nose for a...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    (6)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    Facing Up to Our Future
    New Zealand's traditional β€œshe'll be right” optimism is no longer adequate to the challenges facing the country.Β  Facing Up to Our Future: Challenges and Choices for New ZealandΒ brings together 21 of the country's leading thinkers to confront the long-term pressures shaping the nation's next decades. Edited by Emeritus Professor Peter Davis, the collection ranges widely, covering issues as diverse as...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $3500
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Regime Change
    From the two reporters who have covered him more closely than perhaps anyone else over the past decade comes this definitive portrait of Donald Trump in the White House and the first year of his second presidency. Based on hundreds of interviews and unprecedented reporting from deep within the administration’s most closely guarded rooms, Regime Change takes the reader into...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $4299
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    A Different Kind of Power
    #1 New Zealand bestseller #1 Amazon bestseller #2 Audible bestseller #3 New York Times bestseller #3 Sunday Times bestseller #4 Australian bestseller From the former prime minister of New Zealand, then the world’s youngest female head of government and just the second to give birth in office, comes a deeply personal memoir chronicling her extraordinary rise and offering inspiration to...
    Paperback
    $3200
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • A Different Kind of Power
    Ockham Winner
    A Different Kind of Power
    What if we could redefine leadership? What if kindness came first? Jacinda Ardern grew up the daughter of a police officer in small-town New Zealand, but as the 40th Prime Minister of her country, she commanded global respect for her empathetic leadership that put people first. This is the remarkable story of how a Mormon girl plagued by self-doubt made...
    Hardback
    $4799
    Elsewhere:
    $5999
    (7)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    Suicidal Empathy
    The bestselling author of The Parasitic Mind shows why empathy in politics leads to civilizational collapse. What happens when a society elevates victimhood to a virtue and decides that punishment is cruel? You get the disease Dr. Gad Saad calls suicidal empathy. And the West may be terminally infected. In his new book, Suicidal Empathy, Saad unleashes a blistering critique...
    Paperback
    $3099
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    Go Hard or Go Home
    From the front bench to rock bottom:Β Go Hard or Go HomeΒ is Kiri Allan's fearless memoir of ambition, disruption and survival in NZ politics and beyond. Kiri Allan's six-year political career spanned some of the most challenging times in recent history. Events a government might encounter once in a generation stacked up: a terrorist attack, a volcanic eruption, destructive and deadly...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • New Release
    The Day After: How to Wield Power in a Post-Trump World
    From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Shameless, Brian Tyler Cohen explores how Republicans have abused power, how Democrats have refused to exercise power when they held it, and how progressives should wield power if they are fortunate enough to win a free and fair election in a post-Trump world. The Day After: How to Wield Power in...
    Paperback
    $3099
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • 1984 Nineteen Eighty-Four
    In the drab and oppressive world of 1984 Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell introduces us to Winston Smith, a man haunted by the omnipresent surveillance and control exercised by the Party and its enigmatic leader, Big Brother. Winston works diligently at the Ministry of Truth, where his job is to alter historical records to fit the ever-changing narrative dictated by the...
    Paperback
    $1299
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • Pre-order
    End Times Fascism
    A blistering expose of the new far-right apocalyptic alliance that's on the move around the globe - and how we resist. The far right is on the march again - but this time it's different. A new, apocalyptic alliance of religious fundamentalists, billionaire Silicon Valley tech kings and ethno-nationalists is on the move. They're united in their belief that some...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    Pre-order
    Out 29 Sep 2026
  • Discipline
    Silence is complicity, but how do we confront the cost of speaking up? Sydney, May 2021. Ashraf is an academic whose career and personal life are in freefall. Hannah is a young journalist struggling to honour the voices of her community. When a Year 12 Al-Bayinnah College student is arrested for protesting a university's ties to an Israeli weapons manufacturer,...
    Paperback
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships Monday
  • The Communist Manifesto
    Little Black Classics - the new series to celebrate Penguin's 80th anniversary. One of 80 Little Black Classics - 80 books at 80 pence each to celebrate Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of the Penguin Classics list - from drama to poetry, from fiction to history, with books taken from around the world...
    Paperback
    $900
    Elsewhere:
    $999
    In Stock
    Ships Monday

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.