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If your New Year’s resolution to improve your life has slipped a bit, you might not think that exploring your inner psychopath is the best next move. Oxford University research fellow Kevin Dutton and former SAS hero Andy McNab are plain-speaking proponents of the benefits of such an exercise. Far from suggesting readers tap possible law-breaking inclinations, the pair propose that simple shifts in self-perception and self-presentation can help us to pursue our ambitions; it takes effort and dedication, but it’s not impossible. And neither is it a male-only activity. The blokey, conversational style, with its anecdotes and questionnaires, allows Dutton to demonstrate the science of psychopathic behaviour, while McNab relates the research to his experience in combat situations and civilian life.
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