Sapiens

100,000 years ago, at least six human species inhabited the earth. Today there is just one. Us. Homo sapiens. How did our species succeed in the battle for dominance? Why did our foraging ancestors come together to create cities and kingdoms? How did we come to believe in gods, nations and human rights; to trust money, books and laws; and to be enslaved by bureaucracy, timetables and consumerism? And what will our world be like in the millennia to come? In Sapiens, Dr Yuval Noah Harari spans the whole of human history, from the very first humans to walk the earth to the radical - and sometimes devastating - breakthroughs of the Cognitive, Agricultural and Scientific Revolutions. Drawing on insights from biology, anthropology, palaeontology and economics, he explores how the currents of history have shaped our human societies, the animals and plants around us, and even our personalities. Have we become happier as history has unfolded? Can we ever free our behaviour from the heritage of our ancestors? And what, if anything, can we do to influence the course of the centuries to come? Bold, wide-ranging and provocative, Sapiens challenges everything we thought we knew about being human: our thoughts, our actions, our power ... and our future. 'Here is a simple reason why Sapiens has risen explosively to the ranks of an international bestseller. It tackles the biggest questions of history and of the modern world, and it is written in unforgettably vivid language. You will love it!' - Jared Diamond

Yuval Noah Harari is a historian, philosopher and the global bestselling author of Sapiens, Homo Deus, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, the graphic adaptation series Sapiens: A Graphic History, and Unstoppable Us, his first series of books for children. His books have sold over 50 million copies in 65 languages. He co-founded Sapienship - an international social-impact company focused on education and storytelling - with his husband, Itzik Yahav. Harari has a PhD from the University of Oxford and is currently a history professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a distinguished research fellow at the University of Cambridge's Centre for the Study of Existential Risk.