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nikhil_joglekar 's review for:

The Dawn of Everything by David Wengrow, David Graeber
5.0

Holy moly this was an intense read - if it isn't already, this will be some sort of PhD history textbook, considering how it's written! This book challenges the assumptions used in our typical history text regarding the formation of modern civilization. The authors provide numerous examples of hunter-gatherers living not as nomads, but rather in structured societies, cities, even. I've read a lot about how agriculture and agricultural storage are responsible for the formation of cities and governments in the past - The Dawn of Everything takes us down a different path.

If you do not want to slog through this book (it's kind of worth it, but it's quite difficult), there's apparently a pretty solid New Yorker review:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/11/08/early-civilizations-had-it-all-figured-out-the-dawn-of-everything