Traces the history, mythology, and contemporary social thought about red hair and redheads, highlighting genetics, social prejudices, and the hair color's role in advertising. - (Baker & Taylor)

English scholar and art historian Harvey traces the history, mythology, and contemporary social thought concerning people--mostly women--with red hair. Red hair is a recessive gene and occurs is only about two percent of the population, though two to six percent in northern and western Europe, she says, and first appeared about 50,000 years ago, as humans migrated from Africa to Central Asia. Annotation ©2015 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com) - (Book News)

Red is a brilliantly told, captivating history of red hair throughout the ages. A book that breaks new ground, dispels myths, and reinforces the special nature of being a redhead, with a look at multiple disciplines, including science, religion, politics, feminism and sexuality, literature, and art.

With an obsessive fascination that is as contagious as it is compelling, author Jacky Colliss Harvey (herself a redhead) begins her exploration of red hair in prehistory and traces the redhead gene as it made its way out of Africa with the early human diaspora to its emergence under Northern skies. She goes on to explore red hair in the ancient world; the prejudice manifested against red hair across medieval Europe; red hair during the Renaissance as both an indicator of Jewishness during the Inquisition and the height of fashion in Protestant England, under the reign of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I; the modern age of art and literature, and the first positive symbols of red hair in children's characters; modern medicine and science and the genetic and chemical decoding of red hair; and finally, red hair in contemporary culture, from advertising and exploitation to "gingerism" and the new movement against bullying. - (Grand Central Pub)

Jacky Colliss Harvey is a writer and editor, and the author of Red: A History of the Redhead and My Life As A Redhead: A Journal. She studied English at Cambridge University and art history at the Courtauld Institute. She has worked in museum publishing and is a commentator and reviewer who speaks on the arts and their relation to popular culture. She divides her time between London and New York. - (Grand Central Pub)

Booklist Reviews

According to Grant McCracken, author of Big Hair: A Journey into the Transformation of Self (1995), "The study of hair does not take you to the superficial edges of our society . . . . It takes you, instead, to the center of things." In Red, Harvey drills down to that center to find a mother lode of lore and more about the hair color found in just 2 percent of the world's population. Beginning with our earliest ancestors and continuing down through the ages, this witty, wide-ranging study examines red hair through the lenses of art, literature, science, sexuality, culture, religion, and politics. Fascinating facts abound. For example, we learn that the gene for red hair did not originate in Ireland or Scotland, as we might expect, but in the people who migrated from Africa to the grasslands of central Asia and, eventually, into Europe. Old wives' tales, scientific discoveries, historical accounts, fads in fashion, and trends in the arts are mined to great effect, resulting in a comprehensive and thoroughly enjoyable narrative embellished with stunning illustrations and photographs. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.

Library Journal Reviews

Harvey, whose experiences as a ginger add a personal touch to her findings, traces the cultural, scientific, and sociological journey of the redhead through the centuries and around the world. Offering examples from literature, art, politics, and religion that range from the traditional—Mary Magdalene and Elizabeth I—to the contemporary—Lucille Ball (who was famously not born a redhead) and the television show South Park's "Kick a Ginger Day" episode—she presents the prevailing stereotypes about redheads and theorizes their origins. Why are the women so often thought of as fiery vixens and the men as feminine and unattractive? Harvey describes the push back as well, citing Thomas Knights' REDHOT 100 exhibit, a photographic campaign to rebrand the view of the redheaded man. While the narrative can sometimes raise more questions than it provides concrete answers for, the speculation is eye opening. VERDICT With a plethora of individual anecdotes and presented research, first-time author Harvey brings to light the unique history and current perceptions of redheads everywhere.—Kate DiGirolomo, Library Journal