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Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Yuval Noah Harari (Author), Derek Perkins (Narrator), HarperAudio (Publisher)
Amazon Charts #15 this week
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From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity's creation and evolution - a number one international best seller - 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?

This provocative and insightful work is sure to spark debate and is essential for aficionados of Jared Diamond, James Gleick, Matt Ridley, Robert Wright, and Sharon Moalem.

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  1. Part of series
    A Brief History Series
  2. Listening Length
    15 hours and 18 minutes
  3. Author
    Yuval Noah Harari
  4. Narrator
    Derek Perkins
  5. Audible release date
    August 15, 2017
  6. Language
    English
  7. Publisher
    HarperAudio
  8. ASIN
    B0741F3M7C
  9. Version
    Unabridged
  10. Program Type
    Audiobook
  11. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 15 hours and 18 minutes
Author Yuval Noah Harari
Narrator Derek Perkins
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date August 15, 2017
Publisher HarperAudio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B0741F3M7C
Best Sellers Rank #160 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#1 in Evolution (Audible Books & Originals)
#1 in Evolution (Books)
#2 in History of Civilization

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
140,126 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book insightful, fascinating, and profound. They describe it as an engaging, intense read with a readable and smooth writing style. Readers describe the book as entertaining, witty, and a work of art. They also appreciate the captivating narrative and masterful presentation.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

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Thought provokingReadabilityWriting qualityEntertainment valueStorytellingVisual styleUnbiasednessSturdiness
3,566 customers mention "Thought provoking"3,307 positive259 negative

Customers find the book insightful, full of great information on the history of humankind. They appreciate the simple and profound thesis. Readers also mention the author did lots of research and the contextualization puts a terrific perspective on the possible hows and whys of not only the way we live but also many areas of culture that may be new to them.

"...the broad spectrum of social norms described in the book broadens my ethical outlook and makes me less dogmatic about whatever ideas I used to..." Read more

"...The descriptions of some of these practices are chilling, perhaps enough to persuade you towards vegetarianism...." Read more

"...This book is a vast cornucopia of ideas and will acquaint readers with many areas of culture that may be new to them, and what is said about them..." Read more

"...that is not what you get from reading this book, which is full of great information on the history of humankind." Read more

2,560 customers mention "Readability"2,447 positive113 negative

Customers find the book engaging, incredible, intense, and fun. They say it's a popular and easy read with helpful ideas. Readers also mention the physical features nicely complement the content and are good for survival.

"...It’s that accessible and so much fun to read.I learned so much about history, social culture, and the human race from Sapiens...." Read more

"...This is a remarkable and very thought-provoking book, despite being a popular and easy read. Easily read, but not easily coped with...." Read more

"This is a very good book for those of us who like to review comprehensive knowledge, periodically, plus like to fill in some blanks...." Read more

"...So we evolved to eat about everything. Good for our survival. Through many climates, ice ages and droughts...." Read more

1,476 customers mention "Writing quality"1,330 positive146 negative

Customers find the writing quality of the book very readable and engaging. They say it's a smooth, relevant read with dispassionate clarity.

"High level, thought-provoking ideas, lucid exposition, engaging language, and interesting examples. I would recommend this book to ANYONE...." Read more

"...But it is one rollicking relevant read." Read more

"...Easily read, but not easily coped with. It can send the reader from pessimism to optimism, depression to elation...." Read more

"...ideas over the past 50,000 years --in Harari’s interesting and very readable manner. You’ll like reading this...." Read more

404 customers mention "Entertainment value"404 positive0 negative

Customers find the book entertaining, enjoyable, and witty. They describe the humor as darkly amusing and irreverent. Readers also mention the book is lively, insightful, and interesting.

"...The beautiful and idiomatic language adds much to the exhilarating reading experience...." Read more

"...I also found it darkly amusing and irreverent how he talks about philosophies and hate groups and religions and economic models, all in the same..." Read more

"...Times {Ireland} — “Harari can write ••• really,really write, with wit, clarity, elegance, and awonderful eye for metaphor.”..." Read more

"...Clearing away old models and changing my point of view was at least, entertaining...." Read more

346 customers mention "Storytelling"288 positive58 negative

Customers find the narrative captivating, interesting, and sweeping. They say the author weaves his story of humanity together artfully. Readers also mention the book is riveting and flows well.

"...I found it strangely comforting, in these bad sad days of war and terrorism and misogyny and hatred, to be reminded that this phase we’re in where..." Read more

"...with unnecessary jargon and details, hits the points and keeps the narrative moving along...." Read more

"...That's what this book is, but it's an interesting story with lots of helpful ideas if you don't take it as fact....." Read more

"...material could be a text book, it is written in a wonderful, almost narrative fashion...." Read more

236 customers mention "Visual style"185 positive51 negative

Customers find the visual style masterfully presented, understandable, and fascinating. They also say the book is beautiful and thought-provoking. Readers also mention the backgrounding is carefully presented and valuable for deeper understanding.

"...This is truly a work of art that should be useful to many who find time to read it.The author lectures at the Hebrew University Jerusalem...." Read more

"...really write, with wit, clarity, elegance, and awonderful eye for metaphor.”Second, a review of the substance of the book...." Read more

"...Sapiens is also a physically handsome book, with heavy, textbook-smooth pages, and color where best-used...." Read more

"...Earth [3] instead. Have fun with this book, but it is seductive in its cleverness as it duplicates much of the human history it describes and..." Read more

188 customers mention "Unbiasedness"94 positive94 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the unbiasedness of the book. Some say it's non-judgemental, witty, and clever. Others say it has an obvious bias.

"Great start to the book, very interesting history. However, it’s gets a bit biased and opinionated after about the midway point. Still a great read" Read more

"Sapiens is partly excellent and partly biased. It became a bestseller because the author wrote what the readers want to hear, I am afraid...." Read more

"...It is unbiased and holds no truths or points of view but allows freewheeling common sense to discern what has happened to us...." Read more

"...bereft of scientific criticisms of evolution and contains overt historical errors as well as unconfirmed historical "facts"..." Read more

175 customers mention "Sturdiness"107 positive68 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the sturdiness of the book. Some mention they are impressed with its physical quality, saying it's printed on extremely high-quality paper. However, others say they are disappointed with the quality, mentioning it'll be incredibly cheap and unreliable.

"Book arrived on time and in great condition. No bends, rips or damage. very happy with product plus great book." Read more

"Harari’s “Sapiens” raises some interesting points but is unreliable and frequently maddening...." Read more

"Exhaustive and solid." Read more

"Arrived on time and in excellent condition." Read more

Almost pristine condition, but 3-4 clear signs of wear and tear.
4 out of 5 stars
Almost pristine condition, but 3-4 clear signs of wear and tear.
Book is very interesting and once you dwell into it, you cannot stop until you have read at least 3 chapters.Definitely recommend it for you al to read.
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Top reviews from the United States

L. Huang
5.0 out of 5 stars A simply wonderful book. Six stars.
Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2015
Verified Purchase
High level, thought-provoking ideas, lucid exposition, engaging language, and interesting examples. I would recommend this book to ANYONE.

In addition to reading, I also listened to the audiobook narrated by Derek Perkins - also highly recommended.

The book focuses on "big" history, i.e., macroscopic historical patterns and principles, rather than individual or microscopic historical events and processes. Examples include the three major unification forces of human cultures (money, empires and religions) and the interactions between science, imperialism and capitalism that buttress Western empires' dominion since 1750. Each chapter is organized around these themes, rather than around individual historical regions, eras or institutions (eg, empires and religions) which seems to be the approach of most traditional history textbooks or even university curricula (as judged from for example the course offerings in the History Department of my university: https://classes.cornell.edu/browse/roster/FA15/subject/HIST).

[This paragraph contains some personally thoughts only marginally relevant to the book under review; feel free to skip it] Personally, I am utterly enthusiastic about the author’s approach while enormously frustrated about the traditional approach: the traditional approach is like stamp collecting, analogous to providing a long list of mechanical devices without teaching Newton's laws in the case of mechanics, or displaying a wonderful array of organismal diversity without mentioning the unifying principle of evolution in the case of biology, turns people into "scholars" rather than "thinkers" and defeats the overall purpose of our intellectual endeavors. IF there is some element of truth to my impression of history research and education as traditionally practiced having fallen to a lamentable state of stamp collecting, why so? As an outsider of the field I don’t know, and I am speculating that the major reason is we simply don’t know the principles with a level of certainty like that in mechanics or biology, and the minor reason is there is a culture of stamp collecting. In any case, I admire and support the author’s effort which helps to establish the “big history” approach.

Once in a while, the author jumped out of any historical context altogether and provided some sweeping accounts on some central questions of history whose relevance holds for history as a whole. Examples include justice in history (Chapter 8), the arrow of history (Chapter 9) and the secret of cultural success (Chapter 13). My personal favorite on this is the chapter on happiness (Chapter 19), which examines the following question: are we getting happier as history rolls along and our power accumulates? By the end of an informative and thought-provoking discussion, the author claimed that the subject has traditionally been shunned by historians despite its central importance and he was trying to fill the gap; I personally believe the claim and think it attests to the author’s courage and intellectual prowess.

Staying at the “big history” level, the book contains many thought-provoking ideas. Examples include the point of studying history is not to make predictions but to understand the vast possibilities of our future (in Chapter 13), and we Homo sapiens about to turn into superhumans (in Chapter 20). My personal favorite on this is Agricultural Revolution as history’s biggest fraud (Chapter 5) and the nature of human happiness and how to achieve it (Chapter 19). Connected, the two discussions tell me that humans’ choices and actions may sometimes be fundamentally antithetical and counterproductive to their long-term happiness, which holds profound philosophical and ethical implications to me.

The exposition of the book is lucid and the flow natural. To supplement and concretize the discussions on macroscopic principles, the author provided many detailed (microscopic) examples, and here he exhibited great skills in zooming in and out between the two levels and choosing most telling microscopic examples. Examples fall into several categories. In demonstrating that social orders are of an imagined nature, he carefully chose the CASES of the Code of Hammurabi and the Declaration of Independence, and the result is an informative and intriguing comparison (Chapter 6). In showing that in fact the conquered are usually part of the imperial legacies despite their sometimes great reluctance in admitting so, he drew the STORY of siege of Numantia by the Roman Empire (Chapter 11). In explaining the emergence of credit, he concocted a TALE of the fictional characters McDoughnut, Stone and Greedy (Chapter 16). Moreover, the book is scattered with examples down to the more vivid and explicit level, such as a mathematical equation of Relativity to exemplify our mathematical cognition (Chapter 7) and an ingredient list of a hand cream to illustrate the modern industrial sophistication (Chapter 17).

Occasionally for some difficult topics in the book it seems a clearer exposition would make it easier for me to understand the author’s argument (eg, on how language enabled us to enjoy competitive advantage over other Homo species and ultimately drive them to extinction (Chapter 2), and the sequence of events that got us trapped in agriculture (Chapter 5)), but having not thoroughly gone through those difficult parts a few times, I understand that it might actually be my understanding deficiency. Moreover, I am aware of some complaints over the potential handwaviness of some of the author’s arguments as exemplified by his overuse of the phrase “exceptions that prove the rule” (eg, http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/11/sapiens-brief-history-humankind-yuval-noah-harari-review). In this my thought is the following: I see an AUTHOR’s primary duty as to provoke readers’ own thinking rather than to produce bulletproof arguments (this secondary duty of an author would be the primary duty of a SCIENTIST); in other words, if the author is writing an academic paper, he might need to tighten up his arguments, and since he is now writing a general history book, I think he has succeeded in his primary duty superbly.

Lastly, I think it is hard to read through the book without noticing its literary appeal. This book is apparently an English translation that the author did himself from the original Hebrew version. The beautiful and idiomatic language adds much to the exhilarating reading experience.

The book affects me nontrivially at a personal level. Aside from the philosophical and ethical implications from history on the relationship between our decisions and long-term happiness as mentioned above, the broad spectrum of social norms described in the book broadens my ethical outlook and makes me less dogmatic about whatever ideas I used to hold as absolute principles and cherish unwaveringly (a positive change I think), echoing the point of studying history which in the author’s opinion is to understand the myriad of possibilities (also mentioned above). I feel sincerely grateful to the author and the book in this. It is in part my wish of extending this positive impact of reading this book and understanding history in general to other people that prompted me to write this review.

I can think of some minor improvements for the book. Aside from the potential refinements on the exposition and argument mentioned above, I think the book can be supplemented with more data and plots of them, to inject a more quantitative sense to the matters under study. Lastly, I think the Table of Contents should also include sections of each chapter, which I think would help us grasp the overall structure of the discourse and I provide below for the convenience of other readers. For example, with a listing of the sections of Chapter 12 on religion, one can easily see that the discussions go from the transition from animism to god-based religions, polytheism, monotheism, dualism, Buddhism and Humanism.

Table of Sections
I. The Cognitive Revolution
1. An animal of no significance
a. Skeletons in the closest
b. The cost of thinking
c. A race of cooks
d. Our brothers’ keepers
2. The Tree of Knowledge
a. The legend of Peugeot
b. Bypassing the genome
c. History and Biology
3. A day in the life of Adam and Eve
a. The original affluent society
b. Talking ghosts
c. Peace or war?
d. The curtain of silence
4. The Flood
a. Guilty as charged
b. The end of sloth
c. Noah’s Ark

II. The Agricultural Revolution
5. History’s biggest fraud
a. The luxury trap
b. Divine intervention
c. Victims of the revolution
6. Building pyramids
a. The coming of the future
b. An imagined order
c. True believers
d. The prison walls
7. Memory overload
a. Signed, Kushim
b. The wonders of bureaucracy
c. The language of numbers
8. There is no justice in history
a. The vicious cycle
b. Purity in America
c. He and she
d. Sex and gender
e. What’s so good about men?
f. Muscle power
g. The scum of Society
h. Patriarchal genes

III. The unification of humankind
9. The arrow of history
a. The spy satellite
b. The global vision
10. The scent of money
a. How much is it?
b. Shells and cigarettes
c. How does money work?
d. The Gospel of gold
e. The price of money
11. Imperial Visions
a. What is an empire?
b. Evil empires
c. It’s for your own good
d. When they become us
e. Good guys and bad buys in history
f. The new global empire
12. The law of religion
a. Silencing the lamb
b. The benefits of idolatry
c. God is one
d. The battle of good and evil
e. The law of nature
f. The worship of man
g. Humanist religions – religions that worship humanity
13. The secret of success
a. The hindsight fallacy
b. The blind clio

IV. The Scientific Revolution
14. The discovery of ignorance
a. Ignoramus
b. The scientific dogma
c. Knowledge is power
d. The ideal of progress
e. The Gilgamesh Project
f. The sugar daddy of science
15. The marriage of science and empire
a. Why Europe?
b. The mentality of conquest
c. Empty maps
d. Invasion from outer space
e. Rare spiders and forgotten scripts
16. The Capitalist creed
a. A growing pie
b. Columbus searches for an investor
c. In the name of capital
d. The cult of the free market
e. The Capitalist hell
17. The wheels of industry
a. The secret in the kitchen
b. An ocean of energy
c. Life on the conveyor belt
d. The age of shopping
18. A permanent revolution
a. Modern time
b. The collapse of the family and the community
c. Imagined community
d. Perpetuum mobile
e. Peace in our time
f. Imperial retirement
g. Pax Atomica
19. And they lived happily ever after
a. Counting happiness
b. Chemical happiness
c. The meaning of life
d. Know Thyself
20. The end of Homo Sapiens
a. Of mice and men
b. The return of the Neanderthals
c. Bionic life
d. Another life
e. The singularity
f. The Frankenstein prophecy
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Abeer Y. Hoque
5.0 out of 5 stars Hugely entertaining and informative and depressing
Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2017
Verified Purchase
“Tolerance is not a Sapiens trademark.”

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, by Yuval Noah Harari is one of the most entertaining and informative books I’ve read in a long time. It usually takes me longer to get through nonfiction than fiction, but I blew through this book despite it being a bit of a tome. In fact I didn’t even notice how long it was until I saw the paper version later. It’s that accessible and so much fun to read.

I learned so much about history, social culture, and the human race from Sapiens. For instance, this following idea blew me away: gossip, not physical strength or military cunning, is what makes leaders and binds communities and nations. It seems we developed language just to talk about each other, not for trade or power or more.

I loved how Mr. Harari the word “fiction” (aka common myths) to describe the concepts that let large numbers of strangers cooperate across space and time: “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.” This is kind of terrifying, but also quite true if you stop to think about it.

I also found it darkly amusing and irreverent how he talks about philosophies and hate groups and religions and economic models, all in the same breath: “Some religions, such as Christianity and Nazism, have killed millions out of burning hatred… Capitalism has killed millions out of cold indifference coupled with greed.”

I got a crash course in mega fauna, those giant animals that existed on earth for thousands of years until humans killed them off in a matter of decades: the giant diprotodon, a 2.5 ton wombat, dragon-like lizards, snakes seven feet long, a 450 pound six foot kangaroo, a marsupial lion as massive as the modern tiger, a flightless elephant bird, ten feet tall and half a ton (the largest bird in the world), and the giant lemur (earth’s largest primate).

“Don’t believe our ancestors lived in harmony with nature. Homo sapiens hold the record among all organisms for driving the most plant and animal species to their extinctions. We have dubious distinction of being the deadliest species in the annals of biology.”

Mr. Harari trashes the Agricultural Revolution: “This is the essence of the Agricultural Revolution: the ability to keep more people alive under worse conditions.” Nor does he spare the Scientific Revolution: “The Scientific Revolution and modern imperialism were inseparable.” Naturally, religion doesn’t stand a chance, especially the monotheist ones of today which are described as far more fanatical and missionary than the more tolerant open-minded polytheist religions of old. Only Buddhism seems to get a bit of a pass.

Each concept and chapter of human history is explained with compelling examples, from economics to history to biology to psychology and so on. In some ways, it seems we’re heading forward, with less violence than ever before, new forms of consciousness, life continuing as we could not imagine it, but continuing all the same. For e.g., Mr. Harari explains that ecological degradation is not the same as resource scarcity, and that in fact, our resources (solar and wind power, man made materials, etc) are constantly increasing, and are likely to continue to do so. The environment on the other hand…

But in more ways, Sapiens is an indictment. It is undeniable that “a significant proportion of humanity’s cultural achievements owe their existence to the exploitation of conquered populations,” that “there is no justice in history” and that perhaps happiness is the act of “synchronizing one’s personal delusions of meaning with the prevailing collective delusions.”

The parts about animal husbandry are incendiary. From age old practices to modern slaughterhouses, “tens of billions of animals have been subjected to a regime of industrial exploitation whose cruelty has no precedent in the annals of planet Earth. If we accept a mere tenth of what animal rights activists are claiming, then modern industrial agriculture might well be the greatest crime in history.” The descriptions of some of these practices are chilling, perhaps enough to persuade you towards vegetarianism.

I found it strangely comforting, in these bad sad days of war and terrorism and misogyny and hatred, to be reminded that this phase we’re in where we work as urban labourers and office workers has only lasted a couple hundred years. The 10,000 years before that, we were farmers and herders, and even that is a vanishing second compared to the tens of thousands of years of human hunters and gatherers. We have a long way to go and much more to learn. And anyway, the nihilists have always known that “from a purely scientific viewpoint, human life has absolutely no meaning.”

If you’re tender about things like religion, capitalism, or even human rights, Sapiens won’t give you a break. But it is one rollicking relevant read.
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Top reviews from other countries

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James
5.0 out of 5 stars A very thoughtful book on how we got to where we are
Reviewed in Canada on June 18, 2024
Verified Purchase
This book is great covering vast amounts of history in an easy to digest and thought provoking way. It's really interesting to have early humans humanized so much and be able to see them as more than mindless apes roaming around until someone decided to invent math and war.

The parts that focused more on the future I found a little less value in though.
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Waldemar
5.0 out of 5 stars Un buen libro
Reviewed in Mexico on September 19, 2023
Verified Purchase
Qué regalado este libro al menos seis veces me parece una gran compra la narrativa es formidable y el enfoque que se le da a toda la historia de la humanidad es excelente por el autor

Altamente recomendable, puede cambiar algunos puntos de vista de cómo se han visto las cosas
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Akhil Mohan
5.0 out of 5 stars Provocative, lucid and highly informative
Reviewed in India on September 5, 2024
Verified Purchase
Lucidly, and for the most part, objectively, written, this book not only provides a succinct and wide ranging analysis of human evolution but also raises provocative questions that one cannot help but ruminate over. So much of what we think we ‘know’ today is either a mere fad in the timeline of human evolution or in fact is an entirely baseless assumption. There are a few sections, such as the one on gender, where the author’s analysis becomes visibly shallow, lacking in his otherwise rigorous dialectic, and is perhaps ideologically self-serving. But barring these, this book represents a rare instance of intellectually honest and unbiased analysis. Anyone who thinks this book is for historians or philosophers is sorely mistaken. It is for every thinking human being…or more correctly every thinking Sapiens.
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Mayra A. Castañeda Rodas
5.0 out of 5 stars As it is shown in the pictures
Reviewed in Sweden on July 14, 2024
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The book seems new
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Client d'Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars Très bon livre
Reviewed in France on June 12, 2024
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Très bon livre
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