In FocusnSymons’s ScholarshipnDonald Symons: The Evolutionnof Human Sexuality;nOxford University Press; New York.nby Becki KlutenMr. Symons, professor of anthropologynat the University ofnCalifornia, has written a scholarlyntreatise primarily for thosenin the anthropology field. Psychologists,nfeminists and socialnengineers will be sorely disappointednif they turn to The Evolutionnof Human Sexuality tonprove any of their theories ofnequality.nDeclaring for total value-neutralitynand forcibly ejecting Godnfrom any theory of evolution,nMr. Symons paves the way fornhis conclusions by defining hisnterms, i.e. those of the anthropologicalnresearcher. He thennproceeds to examine several aspectsnof human sexuality, includingnmarriage, sexual choice,ndesire for sexual variety, copulationnas a female service and physicalnattractiveness. Using acceptednacademic research standardsnthroughout, he cites numerousnstudies with mammals, especiallynprimates, primitive humanntribes and contemporary sex researchni. la Kinsey, Masters &nJohnson and Hite (none ofnwhom seem to impress Mr. Symonsnovermuch).nMr. Symons admits that ferretingnout the evolution of sexualitynis rather more difficultnthan, say, discovering the originnof the opposing thumb. Sincenhumans almost universally havensought whatever privacy is avail-nMrs. Klute is on the editorialnstaff of the Chronicles.nm^K^m^mmm^nChronicles of Culturenable, and have seldom left tracesnof sexual preferences or habitsnin fossilized remains, all researchnis, at best, educatednguesswork.nNatural selection, as Mr. Symonsnexplains it, is the processnwhereby those who possess advantageousnreproductive characteristicsn(such as regular fertility)nreproduce more abundantlynthan those with less advantageousncharacteristics, thusnincreasing the number of peoplenwith that particular trait. Muchnof the behavior included in humannsexuality today is the resultnof prehistoric conditioning andnnatural selection. For instance,nsexual jealousy is a useful emotionnwhich assured the primitivenmale that his mate would producenonly his offspring; malesnare generally larger than femalesndue to ancient competition fornmating privileges. Commentingnon the apparently universalnmale desire for sexual variety,nSymons maintains that such insatiabilitynassured primitivenmales of greater reproductivenchances.nThe basic conclusion of Symons’snresearch is that humannsexuality, albeit altered somewhatnby the ability to reason andnby behavioral restrictions, hasnevolved in order to assure reproductivensuccess. Even physicalnattractiveness is important: anfemale who was young andnphysically attractive was likelynto assure greater reproductivenachievement than one who wasnold; shiny hair, clear skin andnsound teeth all indicate goodnhealth. Apparently the male’snsperm is just as healthy whethernhe is physically attractive or not.nMr. Symons’s work probablynwill hold greater interest for studentsnof anthropology than fornthe general reader. His scholarlyntechnique and style make forna great deal of information, butnlittle insight of more generalnimportance. After all, it is difficultnto examine human sexualitynwith the same degree of precisionnand objectivity as onenwould use when studying thensex life of a fruit fly. DnLessons ofnHistorynThomas Flanagan: The Yearnof the French; Holt, Rinehart &nWinston; New York.nThings have changed very littlensince 1798, when the Irishntragedy Thomas Flanagan narratesnis set. The Year of thenFrench, though it may be readnby certain American liberals asnan outcry in defense of the IrishnRepublican Army, is an eloquentnlesson in the brutality of messianicnsocial revolutions. Therenare no heroic figures in the warnthat is continuing in NorthernnIreland today, or in Flanagan’snnovel—but rather innocents,ndemagogues and wistful fools.nThere are also the calculatingnoutsiders, who have little interestnin the origins or immediatenconsequences of the conflict.nThese in The Year of the Frenchnare the French, who hope tonplunge the British Isles into civilnwar. In the real Irish war ofntoday, well, it is those who, likenFlanagan’s French, provide thenarms.nThe novel describes an uprisingnby Irish peasants of CountynMayo, in northwestern Ireland,nagainst their British landlordsnand rulers. The rebellion is farnfrom spontaneous: agents of thenUnited Irishmen have been innParis for years, negotiating withnnnthe Directory for French troopsnto push the Irish into war. Notnthat the French were needed tonstir up trouble, but the Directorynhas its own motives. Bonapartensets sail against the Britishnin Egypt while General Jean-nJoseph Humbert lands at KiUalanin North Mayo with one thousandnFrench troops. England isnthe target; the fortunes of thenIrish are unimportant.nFlanagan’s sympathies are, ofncourse, with the Irish, which isnone of the reasons he wrote thenbook. So are those of most Irish-nAmericans, who know less ofnIreland, but yet feel the mysticnattraction of that myth-riddennisland. No doubt the sad heritagenof the Irish is knit closelynwith old religious bitterness.nThus certain Americans havenseen fit to send support to thenbloodthirsty IRA, which usesnCzech- and Soviet-made weaponsnand sends student terroristsnto the Lebanese and Libyan trainingnschools of the PLO. Grimnreality has a way of interferingnwith fond sentiments and ideologicalnignorance, as the dreamsnof Flanagan’s Irish are goadednby the French to bloodshed.nBut the rebellion would notnhave happened without thenFrench and the French Revolution,nwhich is, in a way, the centralnfact of the novel. GeneralnHumbert is a personification ofnthe Directory’s approach tonworld affairs: grasping, obsessive,ncynical. Humbert knowsnhe is competing with Bonapartenfor the Directory’s attention,nand that his mission is certainnto fail. He understands that anshow of submission to the spiritnof the Revolution will servenhim well back in France. He hasnno intention of conquering Irelandnfor his Irish allies, butnmeans only to advance his ownncareer.nFlanagan reminds us repeatedlynthat the rebellion has nonchance of success. Like all suchnso-called popular movements, itn