Reviews - Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

12.2k reviews for:

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

3.5ish - some parts, I could see assigning my 1st year students. But other parts... A bit too glossed over /oversimplification to the point of some inaccuracy through unacknowledgement. But , for an introduction to the subject, not too bad! Still worth a read and tells an interesting story of humans, and asks some interesting questions.

rueluxprince's review against another edition

3.0

I would’ve liked it a lot more had I read it earlier in my life. 2016-2018 would’ve been best. I was far more centrist then.

Book doesn’t critique european imperialism enough for me. It doesn’t critique it at all.

mrpcreads's review against another edition

4.5

hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

Content Warnings

musicismylifeasl's review against another edition

4.0

challenging hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

chamaeleontis's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 0%

The first chapter of this book is titled "The Cognitive Revolution," however, it is an incorrect use of that term. The Cognitive Revolution was a psychology movement from the 1960s. The chapter describes the theory of Behavioral Modernity.

This was a sign of things to come. The author barely cites sources. He makes dozens of claims each chapter, and only substantiates a few. This means that many things he says can not be verified at all. But those that I could find more information on were nearly universally misleading or straight up incorrect. I stopped reading towards the end of Chapter 2, when he made statements in support of racist and eugenicist sentiments.

If you want to read a book about anthropology, read one written by an anthropologist that is acclaimed by other anthropologists. Don't read this one.

Content Warnings