It is hard to top Allport's thoughtful and understated erudition as he carefully demolishes many of the prevalent reductionstic fads and fallacies of 20th century psychology. Reading and rereading this book represents time well-spent. What do Gordon Allport, Bob Hope and Drew Carey have in common? Answer: They were Clevelanders.

The formula that is given in this book has become an important formula in socialogy, and can be found easily in other books. Yet, this book is one of those books that should be more avalible, since it contains a lot more than just this formula. This book was one of the most important book in my graduation-project and the fact that I couldn't read all of it, but only a couple of chapters, and the fact that I couldn't find it anywhere made me feel that I missed important information (My project, spread over 140 pages, got a 100, by the way). This book is very well written, and is understandable even for people with no background in socialogy or psychology. The writers make the reading interesting, and even funny sometimes. "The Psychology of Rumor" is an important book for every socialogy or psychology student, and it must become more avalible.

There were things that I both liked and disliked about the book. Gordon W. Allport did a good job at showing you that prejudice is in your life from the very beginning till the very end, no matter who you are. Bringing up the nature vs. nurture debate numerous times made you really think about your own experiences and how you relate to the different situations he is bringing up. At the same time, the book had a tendency to become extremely repetitive and thick to read through. I felt that it got overwhelming and notably boring many times throughout the book, but when you thought back to what you read, you were amazed at what you got out of it. I don't think I would advise anyone to read this book, unless they are planning on taking the book a very little bit at a time, then coming back and picking it up again where they left off.

Allport's The Nature of Prejudice is written in a very comprehensive manner that allows you to reflect upon your own experience in prejudices both internal and external. This book is a classic and sheds light on inter-cultural and intra-cultural understanding in the years to come.

If you have truely studied Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X then you have probably seen pictures of this book next to them on their desks. Don't think for one minute that you understand prejudice without reading this book first. It explains why prejudice occurs and how it is part of our basic makeup. Mr. Allport also explains how to change these perceptions that generate the discrimination. For any Civil Rights Advocate this is a must read. It puts you inside the mind of those who practice bigotry and discrimination. If you cannot understand them then how can you defeat them.