Please read the Appendix 1 and 2 before you finish this book. They are the best comments on the stories he presented. And you'll find the motivation of the author to write this book, as well as his deep thinking of the fundamental roles of the plasticity of  brains in human history.

Overall, it's a good reading. I have been  convinced that the human brains are dynamic and plastic though limited while we are getting older and more important  is that we can change it using specific methods and a great effort. The author knows how to present the Science at the right places - while you are very curious about the stories. So you would not get bored, at least in most of the time. The only part I may complain is that a few topics are still very controversial, but the author presented them as they are truth. For instance, Barbara Arrowsmith Young's work is more based on anecdotes but not on solid scientific studies and that the existence and the functions of stem cells in adult brains are extremely restricted. But he gave me the impression they are super prominent and promising.