According to a 2004 Boston Globe article by Emram Qureshi, the book's methodology is "emblematic of a bygone era of scholarship focused on the notion of a 'national character,' or personality archetype".
The book's approach is reflective of a past academic paradigm that emphasized the notion of a 'national character,' or archetype of personality, as highlighted in a 2004 Boston Globe article by Emram Qureshi.