Yuval Noah Harari

Sapiens Graphic Novel Volume 2

Twelve thousand years ago, we humans fell into a trap. Volume II of Sapiens- A Graphic History tells the story of how wheat took over the world; how an unlikely marriage between a god and a bureaucrat created the first empires; and how war, famine, disease and inequality became a part of the human condition. Sound sombre? Not with this cast of entertaining characters, returning from Volume I to explore the Agricultural Revolution. Yuval, Zoe, Prof. Saraswati, Cindy and Bill (turned farmers), Detective Lopez, and Dr. Fiction - are all back to travel the length and breadth of human history. The cunning Mephisto shows them how to entrap humans, King Hammurabi lays down the law, and Confucius explains harmonious society. With guest appearances by Thomas Jefferson, Scarlet O'Hara and Ruth Bader Ginzburg. And there's plenty more genre-bending to enjoy in this book. The origins of modern farming are introduced through Elizabethan tragedy, the changing fortunes of domesticated plants and animals are tracked in the columns of the Daily Business News, the story of urbanization is told as a travel brochure offering discount journeys to ancient Babylon and China, while the history of inequality is scouted out in a superhero detective story. This graphic series is a radical, witty and colourful retelling of the story of humankind, adapted from the international bestseller Sapiens- A Brief History of Humankind, which has sold 18.5 Million copies in 60 languages worldwide. Volume II can be read as a standalone book or as a follow-up to Volume I, and is designed to captivate adults and young adults who don't usually engage with science and history. If you want to know why we are all trapped inside the dreams of dead people - this is your ideal reader.

Reiza H

Tackles more controversial issues, I found this second volume to be more heavy than the first. However, it still offers a nice and quite simple explanation of the complex issues such as the birth of bureaucracy, domestications of plants and animals, and the construction of power dynamics between race, gender and status.

Ilse

I like how this graphic novel opens the history of humankind to a wider audience, nevertheless, for me personally I’d probably enjoy the original source matter more. Although the illustrations were amazing, there was so much repetition of the same point that it became boring at times. Still, for anyone not really into reading but interested in our collective history I’d definitely recommend this book!

Sapiens Graphic Novel Volume 2

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