Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari – Book Review

Quick Stats

Full title: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
Author: Yuval Noah Harari
Number of pages: 443
Publication year: 2011

Thoughts and Summary

Sapiens is popular for a good reason. Written in eloquent prose that is a voracious page-turner, Harari presents familiar and new concepts from angles that will likely influence how you see the world. The subtitle, “A Brief History of Humankind,” may suggest a play-by-play recount of the history of humanity. However, this book is anything but that, and it is all the better for it.

The history of humanity is too vast to fit into even a million books, so what Sapiens does is it takes some of the most important events and revolutions in history that have shaped the world today and describes them in clear language, and does so in a way that makes the reader think.

Some of the events Harari outlines in the book are the cognitive revolution, which took place many tens of thousands of years ago, the agricultural revolution, the history of religion, and the scientific revolution.

Where this book really shines; however, is in describing how the history of humanity is built on stories. Harari describes how everyday concepts such as money and countries are nothing more than fictitious stories made up in the mind. The thesis of the book is really how stories and fiction, that start in the mind, made their way into the material world and are the driving force behind the story of humanity.

Who is this book for?

Thankfully, one does not need to be well-versed in history to appreciate this book. I read it when I knew very little of the story of humanity, and it helped me greatly. So for anyone interested in human history, this is one of the best books you can start out with.

What to expect? How is it structured?

As stated above, Sapiens is written accessibly. You need not be an academic in the humanities to appreciate it. It has 4 sections and 20 chapters that are further broken into sub-sections that are, at most, only a few pages long.

Highlights

Harari’s explanation of how money works really shines. He takes something most people use every day and describes it in a way that makes you feel like you are learning about it for the first time. Like in the rest of the book, Harari describes how money is a fictitious entity, it only exists in the mind. The value of money is a story we all collectively tell ourselves, and the story is where the value lies, not in the physical (or digital) money itself. With this in mind, he alludes that bankers and politicians — not authors, poets and filmmakers — are the greatest storytellers in the world.

Rating

10/10