Sapiens

A Brief History of Humankind

By: Yuval Noah Harari

Narrated by: Derek Perkins

#1 New York Times Bestseller • New York Times Readers’ Pick: Top 100 Books of the 21st Century • The Summer Reading Pick for President Barack Obama and Bill Gates

Official U.S. edition

From renowned historian Yuval Noah Harari 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.

Mind blowing book

This book will make your mind think differently about... everything. Sapiens is a phenomenal book.

A map through time that demystifies the human real

I found this book fascinating, if a bit dry at times. It shed new light on many things in daily life, and I find myself discussing it frequently. A good use of my time.

Enjoyable Listening

A very interesting and useful book. Really enjoyed listening to a very clear and understandable narration.

Imagination = mind blown

This book was amazing. Too big to write a full review but, wow, my eyes were opened. The wall has been broken down and the veil lifted. My perspective is forever changed.

Puts things in perspective

At first I thought that I was not learning much and indeed, the book contains very little I did not already know. However the amazing thing about this book is not its great breadth (onebcan accuse it of being all over the place or overly ambitious) or its scholarship, which is considerable, but not unique. The amazing thing is how the author one by one, takes ideas that are the pillars of the way we see the world, e.g. the concept of money, religion, liberal democracy, the idea of the individual, the role of science, the evils of empireor capitalism, the advancement of society, happiness . . . and on and on, and shows us how all of these things are neither natural, nor inevitable. That is the crux of it. All of our great ideas and achievements are truly that, but they are also arbitrary and of potentially little consequence. It is a humbling look at what it means to be a homo sapien. We can admire what we have achieved, but we should not think that the story of this one species amounts to a hill of beans in this crazy world. : -)