says in his preface to the 2002 paperback edition of The Culture of Critique: I think there is a noticeable shift in my tone from the first book to the third simply because (I'd like to think) I knew a lot more and had read a lot more. People often say after reading the first book that they think I really admire Jews, but they are unlikely to say that about the last two and especially about CofC. That is because by the time I wrote CofC I had changed greatly from the person who wrote the first book. Understanding Jewish Influence (2004) With an introduction by Samuel T. Francis, Understanding Jewish Influence outlines what MacDonald claims are the "background traits" of Jewish influence. To MacDonald these traits consist of: Hyper-ethnocentrism High verbal intelligence and consequent wealth Psychological intensity Social and political aggression He goes on to assert the influence of these traits upon current events concerning Zionism, neoconservatism, immigration, and Middle Eastern warfare waged by Western powers. Criticism The series has been widely criticized by academics and researchers as antisemitic and scientifically unsupportable. Slate magazine carried an article by Judith Shulevitz, then Art and Entertainment editor of the Culturebox, entitled "Evolutionary Psychology's Anti-Semite," continuing the discussion followed by an attempted rebuttal by MacDonald. According to Shulevitz, MacDonald's arguments are prescriptive: "Toward the end of the third book, MacDonald lays out his solution for restoring what he calls 'parity' between the Jews and other ethnic groups: systematic discrimination against Jews in college admission and employment and heavy taxation of Jews 'to counter the Jewish advantage in the possession of wealth.'" MacDonald replied that in the actual passage from The Culture of Critique quoted by Shulevitz, he was speaking hypothetically of the consequences of competition between ethnic groups of differing abilities. Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center has said of MacDonald that "he put the anti-Semitism under the guise of scholarly work... Kevin MacDonald’s work is nothing but gussied-up anti-Semitism. At base it says that Jews are out to get us through their agenda... His work is bandied about by just about every neo-Nazi group in America." The Anti-Defamation League has included MacDonald in its list of American extremists, Extremism in America, and has written a report on his views and ties. According to the ADL, MacDonald's views on Jews mimic those of antisemites from the late 19th and