In this sweeping look at the history of humans, Harari offers readers the chance to reconsider, well, everything, from a look at why Homo sapiens endured to a compelling discussion of how society organizes itself through fictions.
Booklist Best Books of the Year
It is one of the best accounts by a Homo sapiens of the unlikely story of our violent, accomplished species.…It is one hell of a story. And it has seldom been told better…. Compulsively readable and impossibly learned.
The most idea-packed work of non-fiction I’ve read in years.
Harari can write…really, really write, with wit, clarity, elegance, and a wonderful eye for metaphor.
Harari’s account of how we conquered the Earth astonishes with its scope and imagination…. One of those rare books that lives up to the publisher’s blurb...brilliantly clear, witty and erudite.
This was the most surprising and thought-provoking book I read this year.
In Sapiens , Harari delves deep into our history as a species to help us understand who we are and what made us this way. An engrossing read.
[I]nteresting and provocative…It gives you a sense of perspective on how briefly we’ve been on this earth, how short things like agriculture and science have been around, and why it makes sense for us to not take them for granted.
Not only is Harari eloquent and humane, he is often wonderfully, mordantly funny
It’s not often that a book offers readers the possibility to reconsider, well, everything. But that’s what Harari does in this sweeping look at the history of humans.… Readers of every stripe should put this at the top of their reading lists. Thinking has never been so enjoyable.
Booklist (starred review)
Yuval Noah Harari’s full-throated review of our species may have been blurbed by Jared Diamond, but Harari’s conclusions are at once balder and less tendentious than that of his famous colleague.
Engaging and informative…. Extremely interesting.
Full of…high-perspective, shocking and wondrous stories, as well as strange theories and startling insights.
Sapiens tackles the biggest questions of history and of the modern world, and it is written in unforgettably vivid language.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a fun, engaging look at early human history…you’ll have a hard time putting it down.
An absorbing, provocative history of civilization…packed with heretical thinking and surprising facts. This riveting, myth-busting book cannot be summarised…you will simply have to read it.
The sort of book that sweeps the cobwebs out of your brain…. Harari…is an intellectual acrobat whose logical leaps will have you gasping with admiration.
Thank God someone finally wrote [this] exact book.
Sapiens is learned, thought-provoking and crisply written…. Fascinating.
Sapiens takes readers on a sweeping tour of the history of our species…. Harari’s formidable intellect sheds light on the biggest breakthroughs in the human story…important reading for serious-minded, self-reflective sapiens.
Yuval Noah Harari’s celebrated Sapiens does for human evolution what Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time did for physics.… He does a superb job of outlining our slow emergence and eventual domination of the planet.
★ 12/01/2014
"[I]nteresting and provocative...It gives you a sense of perspective on how briefly we've been on this earth, how short things like agriculture and science have been around, and why it makes sense for us to not take them for granted."--President Barack Obama
"I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a fun, engaging look at early human history...you'll have a hard time putting it down."--Bill Gates
"Thank God someone finally wrote [this] exact book."--Sebastian Junger
"Sapiens takes readers on a sweeping tour of the history of our species.... Harari's formidable intellect sheds light on the biggest breakthroughs in the human story...important reading for serious-minded, self-reflective sapiens."--Washington Post
"It is one of the best accounts by a Homo sapiens of the unlikely story of our violent, accomplished species....It is one hell of a story. And it has seldom been told better.... Compulsively readable and impossibly learned."--Michael Gerson, Washington Post
"This was the most surprising and thought-provoking book I read this year."--Atlantic.com
"Yuval Noah Harari's full-throated review of our species may have been blurbed by Jared Diamond, but Harari's conclusions are at once balder and less tendentious than that of his famous colleague."--New York magazine
"This title is one of the exceptional works of nonfiction that is both highly intellectual and compulsively readable... a fascinating, hearty read."--Library Journal (starred review)
"An encyclopedic approach from a well-versed scholar who is concise but eloquent, both skeptical and opinionated, and open enough to entertain competing points of view....The great debates of history aired out with satisfying vigor."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Writing with wit and verve, Harari...attempts to explain how Homo sapiens came to be the dominant species on Earth as well as the sole representative of the human genus.... Provocative and entertaining."--Publishers Weekly
"The most idea-packed work of non-fiction I've read in years."--Dick Meyer, www.abcactionnews.com
"In this sweeping look at the history of humans, Harari offers readers the chance to reconsider, well, everything, from a look at why Homo sapiens endured to a compelling discussion of how society organizes itself through fictions."--Booklist Best Books of the Year
"It's not often that a book offers readers the possibility to reconsider, well, everything. But that's what Harari does in this sweeping look at the history of humans.... Readers of every stripe should put this at the top of their reading lists. Thinking has never been so enjoyable."--Booklist (starred review)
"The sort of book that sweeps the cobwebs out of your brain.... Harari...is an intellectual acrobat whose logical leaps will have you gasping with admiration."--John Carey, Sunday Times (London)
"Harari's account of how we conquered the Earth astonishes with its scope and imagination.... One of those rare books that lives up to the publisher's blurb...brilliantly clear, witty and erudite."--Ben Shepard, the Observer (London)
"An absorbing, provocative history of civilization...packed with heretical thinking and surprising facts. This riveting, myth-busting book cannot be summarised...you will simply have to read it."--John Gray, Financial Times (London)
"Full of...high-perspective, shocking and wondrous stories, as well as strange theories and startling insights."--Bryan Appleyard, Sunday Times
"Not only is Harari eloquent and humane, he is often wonderfully, mordantly funny"--The Independent (London)
"Engaging and informative.... Extremely interesting."--Guardian (London)
"Harari can write...really, really write, with wit, clarity, elegance, and a wonderful eye for metaphor."--The Times (Ireland)
★ 2014-11-15
