Includes bibliographical references and index.

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

Uncovers the hidden rules that shape the balance between the weak and the mighty and the powerful and the dispossessed.