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A groundbreaking narrative of humanity's creation and evolution exploring how biology and history have defined us.
From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity's creation and evolution—a #1 international bestseller—that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be "human."
One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one—homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us?
Most books about the history of humanity pursue either a historical or a biological approach, but Dr. Yuval Noah Harari breaks the mold with this highly original book that begins about 70,000 years ago with the appearance of modern cognition. From examining the role evolving humans have played in the global ecosystem to charting the rise of empires, Sapiens integrates history and science to reconsider accepted narratives, connect past developments with contemporary concerns, and examine specific events within the context of larger ideas.
Dr. Harari also compels us to look ahead, because over the last few decades humans have begun to bend laws of natural selection that have governed life for the past four billion years. We are acquiring the ability to design not only the world around us, but also ourselves. Where is this leading us, and what do we want to become?
Featuring 27 photographs, 6 maps, and 25 illustrations/diagrams, this provocative and insightful work is sure to spark debate and is essential reading for aficionados of Jared Diamond, James Gleick, Matt Ridley, Robert Wright, and Sharon Moalem.
As a professor of anthropology, I often recommend this book to my students as an accessible introduction to human history. Harari has a remarkable talent for synthesizing complex information from multiple disciplines into a compelling narrative. His discussion of the Cognitive Revolution and its implications is particularly insightful. While specialists might quibble with some generalizations, the book succeeds brilliantly in its ambition to provide a comprehensive overview of our species' journey.
This book completely changed my perspective on human history. Harari's exploration of how shared myths and stories have allowed humans to cooperate at unprecedented scales is fascinating. I particularly enjoyed his examination of money, religion, and empires as "imagined orders" that exist primarily in our collective consciousness. The writing is accessible without being simplistic, and I found myself highlighting passages on nearly every page.
While Harari presents many thought-provoking ideas, I found some of his arguments oversimplified, particularly regarding agricultural society and religion. The book covers an enormous amount of ground, which necessarily means some topics receive less nuanced treatment than they deserve. That said, it's an engaging read that connects disparate fields in novel ways, and it certainly encourages further exploration of the subjects it touches upon.
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