Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
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- Create Date：2021-11-02 00:21:42
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Yuval Noah Harari
- ISBN：0062316117
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Summary
A Summer Reading Pick for President Barack Obama， Bill Gates， and Mark Zuckerberg
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。
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。
Reviews
Jhon Jairo Ureña
，
Puntos de vista para entender mejor la historia Este libro pone en contexto con datos， estadísticas y obvio la visión propia del autor el avance que ha tenido la raza humana。 Muy buen libro leerlo con mente abierta。
Chloie Mae
，
Very insightful。 The amount of information you receive on every page caused me to need a moment after reading it because I don’t think I can absorb what I read if I rushed reading the whole thing。 It’s a good book for a casual crash course in the evolution of man and history。 The book might have some technical topics but it was explained to a level where anyone can comprehend。
Adrien Michelle
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 TLDR; humans were domesticated by wheatThis guy had such an arrogant writing style - like he was the first man to have any intellectual thoughts。 The storyline moved smoothly and I enjoyed the history。 7/10
Fon Lertviriyavanich
，
Sapiens is a book where the author puts all the key （most of the stuff we learnt in the school） human history phases together chronologically。 It does not go into the nitty gritty detail of each phase but it gives you the logic or non-logic as to how things happened and will happen。 From the victory of Sapiens being the winner of the homo group to the future collective consciousness。I personally like that the author puts interesting examples/stories on key points he would like to make。 I also li Sapiens is a book where the author puts all the key （most of the stuff we learnt in the school） human history phases together chronologically。 It does not go into the nitty gritty detail of each phase but it gives you the logic or non-logic as to how things happened and will happen。 From the victory of Sapiens being the winner of the homo group to the future collective consciousness。I personally like that the author puts interesting examples/stories on key points he would like to make。 I also like how the author ties capitalism to imperialism together。 I wish my economics professor was able to tell a story like this so I could at least aced it 🤣。 The section on Buddhism is also a nice summary。 This book can creep you out at the end on the potential scenarios that can happen to the future of Sapiens。 Collective consciousness that can be accessed， downloaded anytime to a cyborg body that can assume the identity of any individuals？ Scary！ Overall a comprehensive summary of millennia’s of history with a few thought provoking questions。 I recommend you to read when you have time， definitely not something you have to read right away。 。。。more
Thomas Wikman
，
As many have pointed out Sapiens is not your typical history book。 The focus of Sapiens is not on historical events or kings， but the human condition， how we changed the planet， and how and why we got here。 In doing this， the author takes us for an exciting and mind expanding ride that complements the historical information that you already know and the historical facts presented in the book （some of it new to me）。 The book parses human pre-history， the cognitive revolution， the agricultural/Neo As many have pointed out Sapiens is not your typical history book。 The focus of Sapiens is not on historical events or kings， but the human condition， how we changed the planet， and how and why we got here。 In doing this， the author takes us for an exciting and mind expanding ride that complements the historical information that you already know and the historical facts presented in the book （some of it new to me）。 The book parses human pre-history， the cognitive revolution， the agricultural/Neolithic revolution， and the scientific revolution （leading to the industrial revolution and capitalism）。 Contrary to what you might expect the book does not view history strictly as “human progress” but rather an altering of the human condition （and that of other species）。 For example， the agricultural revolution certainly enlarged the sum-total food at the disposal of humankind， but the extra food did not translate into a better diet or more leisure。 Rather， it translated into population explosions and pampered elites and the spread of infectious diseases and a harder life for most people。 More recently industrial farming has led to the population explosions of cattle and other domesticated animals while granting those animals a miserable and short life。 Add to that the damage we do to eco-systems and the planet， etc。The book contains many profound observations。 For example， it is very difficult for a group of people to cooperate beyond a practical limit of around 150 people。 However， common myths will allow thousands and even millions of people to cooperate。 The book states that “there are no gods in the universe， no nations， no money， no human rights， no laws， and no justice outside the common imagination of human beings。” It is our belief or acceptance of those myths and ideas that allows us build societies and large cultures。Another observation in the book is that it was the discovery of ignorance， or the willingness to admit ignorance， that led to the Scientific Revolution。 The Scientific Revolution in turn fueled politics and economics， which in turn propelled more scientific progress， etc。 Using the author’s view of human history as a backdrop the book discusses things like the meaning of life， happiness， good and evil， religion， Buddhism （which the author seems fond of）， consumerism， capitalism， war and peace， the mentality of conquest， AI and the future of mankind， etc。 This makes for extremely interesting reading。 It is one of the few books that I’ve read that has changed the way I view the world and myself。I highly recommend this book。 。。。more
Bart
，
Started strong， a lull 70% in and a string finish。 Reading it you realise in the greater scheme of things all of our worries and concerns and basically fluff。 Why are we here - random genetic evolution。 No purpose， no great task， just existence。 Where next？ Great discussion at the end of the book regarding genetic engineering…it’s just a matter of time。 Ok onto Home Deus to see where this all leads！
Priyam Rajvanshi
，
There is no doubt that this book is amazing。 Brilliant appealing writing yet sometimes you feel difficulty in relating things and sometimes you completely disagree with the points。Complex things of evolution， anthropology， archeology， ancient history， medieval history， modern history， economics， sociology， biology， geopolitics， religion， ，scientific revolution， biochemistry， genetics and the future of mankind are beautifully put together into one book。Harari beautifully and elaborately explained There is no doubt that this book is amazing。 Brilliant appealing writing yet sometimes you feel difficulty in relating things and sometimes you completely disagree with the points。Complex things of evolution， anthropology， archeology， ancient history， medieval history， modern history， economics， sociology， biology， geopolitics， religion， ，scientific revolution， biochemistry， genetics and the future of mankind are beautifully put together into one book。Harari beautifully and elaborately explained each point by some giving some great examples and useful references in a witty style。Starting from talking about sapiens who had existed 70，000 years ago to the prophecy of becoming god in near or extreme future， this books asks a very interesting yet important question in the last "What do we want to become？" 。。。more
ryder
，
Tô de saco cheio dessa porra vou fingir que terminei。
Maria
，
“Nu studiem istoria pentru a cunoaște viitorul， ci pentru a ne lărgi orizontul， pentru a înțelege că situația noastră actuală nu este nici naturală， nici inevitabilă și că în consecință avem mult mai multe posibilități în fața noastră decât ne imaginăm。”
Peltsi
，
Sapiens: A Brief history of Humankind is perhaps best described as series of interesting thoughts scattered within a quick overlook of the story of humans。 Sapiens isn't necessarily a valuable history book as it expects the reader to already know something about humans， although it does offer a few interesting facts which one can use to impress their family at the dinner table。 Instead， it is a thought-provoking collection of well-developed ideas about humans and the societies we live in。 Sapien Sapiens: A Brief history of Humankind is perhaps best described as series of interesting thoughts scattered within a quick overlook of the story of humans。 Sapiens isn't necessarily a valuable history book as it expects the reader to already know something about humans， although it does offer a few interesting facts which one can use to impress their family at the dinner table。 Instead， it is a thought-provoking collection of well-developed ideas about humans and the societies we live in。 Sapiens is best enjoyed not as a schoolbook offering ready answers or something one should argue against but as a kickstart for one's own analysis of their surroundings。To me personally， Sapiens is the best book in the series as it feels like the one Harari was most comfortable writing。 While the later books are perhaps more professionally written this one is great in the way that the reader can see how Harari is still trying to find the way he wants to write in。 。。。more
Tawnua Tenley
，
Oh my goodness。 The middle chapters about economics weren't thrilling for me， but this last few might give me nightmares。 Either way， a stimulating read worth the time。 Oh my goodness。 The middle chapters about economics weren't thrilling for me， but this last few might give me nightmares。 Either way， a stimulating read worth the time。 。。。more
Ασπα Τοπαλιδου
，
Clever， out of the box approach to present the human evolution。 Sadly， covid was not predicted by the author。
Vivek Mahapatra
，
It is hard to imagine that one day we will have the definitive history of the human race， neatly organized into cause and effect， categorized and annotated to peruse。 But the endeavor to seek it out is meritorious。 We may not learn the true causes of each of the events and conditions which led to us being who we are。 But this archeaeology teaches us new things that we did not know before。 New connections。 New ways of looking in the mirror。 And this is a fruitful and worthwhile endeavor。
Vy Nguyen
，
Condensed， and abit hopeless
Michael McKeever
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Amazing perspective， a real eye-opener and thought provoker
Gary Fogarty
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By far the best non-fiction book I have read。 I've given away eight copies to friends。 Everyone needs to read this！ By far the best non-fiction book I have read。 I've given away eight copies to friends。 Everyone needs to read this！ 。。。more
Avalon1224
，
Un fascinante viaje a través de 70，000 años de evolución biológica y cognitiva que definen el pasado， presente y futuro del Homo Sapiens。 Buenísimo para entender cómo llegamos a ser como somos， y porque nuestra sociedad funciona así。
Rishav Prashar
，
Thought Provoking， Intelligent and an Interesting book。 Also， an absolute page turner， which defy the norms of history。 As in， history appears boring and lame for some。 But I bet on this one， it won't disappoint you。 Thank me later。 Thought Provoking， Intelligent and an Interesting book。 Also， an absolute page turner， which defy the norms of history。 As in， history appears boring and lame for some。 But I bet on this one， it won't disappoint you。 Thank me later。 。。。more
Elza
，
Saistoša lasāmviela vēstures cienītājiem， kas liek paraudzīties uz cilvēces attīstību no pozīcijām，ka cilvēks ir nevis augstākais radības kronis， bet lielākā katastrofa un nelaime dabai un visām pārējām vēl dzīvajām un sen izmirušajām būtnēm。 Diemžēl nākotne rādās vēl drūmāka。 Noteikti vēlēšos izlasīt arī otro turpinājumu。
Mike
，
This is the best book I’ve ever read！！！！！！！！！ Multiple times while reading a certain section or chapter， I had to put the book down， say WOW， and tell my wife what I just read。 This book touches on a ton of interesting topics - evolution， society， culture， rise of civilizations or empires， falls of civilizations and empires， money， religion， technology， genetic engineering， and even a bit on AI。 This book changed my world view and let me realize how far Homo sapiens have come in a relatively sho This is the best book I’ve ever read！！！！！！！！！ Multiple times while reading a certain section or chapter， I had to put the book down， say WOW， and tell my wife what I just read。 This book touches on a ton of interesting topics - evolution， society， culture， rise of civilizations or empires， falls of civilizations and empires， money， religion， technology， genetic engineering， and even a bit on AI。 This book changed my world view and let me realize how far Homo sapiens have come in a relatively short amount of time （70，000 years）。 And especially how quickly were advancing since the 1500s。 I’m looking forward to reading more from this author or diving deeper into some of the topics written about in this book10/10， would recommend to anyone and will probably read bits and pieces again in the future 。。。more
Abigail Sewall
，
I really liked the beginning of this book and it discussed some interesting ideas but I ultimately lost interest about halfway through。
Bruce Burger
，
Quite an ambitious undertaking。 I enjoyed reading "Sapiens。" It's more of an outline simply because of the immense content it attempts to cover and therefor is cursory。 Whenever I wanted the author to go more in depth， he moved onto the next topic。 I would love to see something from him with more detail and depth。 Still， a very enjoyable and interesting read。 Quite an ambitious undertaking。 I enjoyed reading "Sapiens。" It's more of an outline simply because of the immense content it attempts to cover and therefor is cursory。 Whenever I wanted the author to go more in depth， he moved onto the next topic。 I would love to see something from him with more detail and depth。 Still， a very enjoyable and interesting read。 。。。more
Bevin Sunth
，
This book was left unopened on my shelf until now because someone told me it was a dry read。 I HAVE BEEN LIED TO。This is easily one of the best non-fiction I've ever read and it's a must-read for all homo-sapiens。I always believed， knowing my history is knowing myself。 Knowing my cultural history has helped me understand my social and cultural conditioning and helped me channel it or break out of it。 This book does just that for all us humans as a collective。 Knowing our collective history helps This book was left unopened on my shelf until now because someone told me it was a dry read。 I HAVE BEEN LIED TO。This is easily one of the best non-fiction I've ever read and it's a must-read for all homo-sapiens。I always believed， knowing my history is knowing myself。 Knowing my cultural history has helped me understand my social and cultural conditioning and helped me channel it or break out of it。 This book does just that for all us humans as a collective。 Knowing our collective history helps us zoom out and understand how myths and collective imagination bond us together to this day。There were so many "how did I not think of that" moments。 I can't recommend this book enough。 。。。more
Mientras Leo
，
Incluso con teorías que no comparto he disfrutado del librohttp://entremontonesdelibros。blogspot。。。 Incluso con teorías que no comparto he disfrutado del librohttp://entremontonesdelibros。blogspot。。。 。。。more
Nott
，
Последние ~20 процентов читать было практически невыносимо。 Ужасы капитализма， патриархата и неизведанность будущего？ Очень было колко。
Coby Friesen
，
Harari’s clarity of history and where we might be headed is genius。 I didn’t necessarily come away knowing everything about everything that’s happened in history but definitely a greater understanding of the big picture of the many revolutions that have changed humans forever。
Ellie Peterson
，
An interesting take on the “history of humankind。” The beginning aspects that discussed the biological reasons for humans evolving the way they did was more interesting to me than the rest of the book， which at times was too pessimistic for my liking。 （Pessimistic， or realistic？ The author would likely argue the latter）。 Overall I’d say this is worth reading， but be prepared for it to be a bit of a slog at times。 Also， the physical flu of this book is one of the heaviest I’ve ever read… does not An interesting take on the “history of humankind。” The beginning aspects that discussed the biological reasons for humans evolving the way they did was more interesting to me than the rest of the book， which at times was too pessimistic for my liking。 （Pessimistic， or realistic？ The author would likely argue the latter）。 Overall I’d say this is worth reading， but be prepared for it to be a bit of a slog at times。 Also， the physical flu of this book is one of the heaviest I’ve ever read… does not make for comfortable reading！ 。。。more
Amanda
，
a bit tiring but interesting
Dru
，
Few authors write well enough to cover a massive topic with clarity while engaging the reader。 This is definitely one example。 Sapiens covers the history of our species， weaving together topics such as genetics， biology， religion， politics， science， war and a few others。 It does a wonderful job of remaining scientifically objective， reminder readers that， when viewed from a simple definitional standpoint， Christianity， Liberalism and Capitalism are all "religions"。 It reminds readers that we do Few authors write well enough to cover a massive topic with clarity while engaging the reader。 This is definitely one example。 Sapiens covers the history of our species， weaving together topics such as genetics， biology， religion， politics， science， war and a few others。 It does a wonderful job of remaining scientifically objective， reminder readers that， when viewed from a simple definitional standpoint， Christianity， Liberalism and Capitalism are all "religions"。 It reminds readers that we do not know why we exist and asks tough questions about what things like "happiness" mean。 It is a challenging book to anyone whose ideas of what it means to be "a person" are too tightly bound up with the common ideas of history， religion， space and time。 That is， if you are an unimaginative person you are not likely to be able to get through this book without railing violently against some very simple， sensible arguments that are found within。 The author challenges us to envision a somewhat terrifying future where "sapiens" is no longer what we are。I have but one criticism of the book: it provides far， far too many questions without attempting to answer them。 I think， considering the depth of knowledge the author has， that some *hope* might have gone a long way。 。。。more
Vu Pham
，