Name: Doan Tran Minh Thanh's review of Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
Item: Sapiens
Rating: 4
Author: Doan Tran Minh Thanh

Yuval Noah Harari

From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity’s creation and evolution—a #1 international bestseller—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?

A Brief History of Humankind

Sapiens

Emily

Amelia Pokorny

Humans are not created equal. In fact, they weren’t created at all but evolved. Born with different genetic code and exposed to different environmental influences. Leading to different qualities and different chances of survival. “Created equal” should to translated to “evolved differently.”

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

Ludek Bukovsky

Fatih Arslan

In Aldous Huxley's dystopian novel Brave New World, published in 1932 at the height of the Great Depression, happiness is the air che supreme value and psychiatric drugs replace the police and che ballot as the foundation of politics. Every day, each person takes a dose of 'soma', a synthetic drug which makes people happy without harming their productivity and efficiency. The World State that governs the entire globe is never threatened by wars, revolutions, strikes or demonstrations, because all people are supremely content with their current conditions, whatever they may be. Huxley's vision of the future is far more troubling than George Orwell's Nineten Eighty-Four. Huxley's world seems monstrous to most readers, but it is hard to explain why. Everybody is happy all the time - what gtl and nponer aher could be wrong with that?

So, monotheism explains order, but is mystified by evil. Dualism explains evil, but is puzzled by order. There is one logical way of solving the riddle: to argue that there is a single omnipotent God who created the entire universe - and He's evil. But nobody in history has had the stomach for such a belief. *

Rayacak

**THE MILLION COPY BESTSELLER** What makes us brilliant? What makes us deadly? What makes us Sapiens? Yuval Noah Harari challenges everything we know about being human in the perfect read for these unprecedented times. Earth is 4.5 billion years old. In just a fraction of that time, one species among countless others has conquered it: us. In this bold and provocative book, Yuval Noah Harari explores who we are, how we got here and where we’re going. ‘I would recommend Sapiens to anyone who’s interested in the history and future of our species’ Bill Gates ‘Interesting and provocative... It gives you a sense of how briefly we’ve been on this Earth’ Barack Obama **ONE OF THE GUARDIAN'S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21st CENTURY**

Dhrumil Patel

Mihai Nueleanu

Doan Tran Minh Thanh

Gabe Cortez

I'm blind, but that moment I finished reading the first chapter, my eyes are opened. There is no other book as complex, as deep, as rich, yet so compact more than this book. The entire humanity covered in one book.

catto fishu

Kinda hits different in 2025. Lots of interesting elements here. Should be required reading when you graduate college. 

It’s more concise and clear then dawn of everything but I think has less scientific evidence. The concepts are very intriguing and have been occupying my head space the whole time. 

Truman M Halladay

Kinda hits different in 2025. Lots of interesting elements here. Should be required reading when you graduate college. 

It’s more concise and clear then dawn of everything but I think has less scientific evidence. The concepts are very intriguing and have been occupying my head space the whole time. 

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER Planet Earth is 4.5 billion years old. In just a fraction of that time, one species among countless others has conquered it. Us. We are the most advanced and most destructive animals ever to have lived. What makes us brilliant? What makes us deadly? What makes us Sapiens? In this bold and provocative book, Yuval Noah Harari explores who we are, how we got here and where weâe(tm)re going. Sapiens is a thrilling account of humankindâe(tm)s extraordinary history âe" from the Stone Age to the Silicon Age âe" and our journey from insignificant apes to rulers of the world âe~It tackles the biggest questions of history and of the modern world, and it is written in unforgettably vivid language. You will love it!âe(tm) Jared Diamond, author of Guns, Germs and Steel For more, visit www.ynharari.com

Nice, enjoyable listen (audiobook). Only downside was the inconsistent quality across chapters. Some hit, while others left me uninspired. Great pacing though, would recommend to anyone looking for a light nonfiction book.

Roderick

Jon Aho

Finally started reading this one because i have a severe bitch gene where i can’t consume mainstream media at its height of public attention

Haley Park

Eh, didn't finish it. It's good in laying out how far we have come as humans, but the presentation, the tone, was just not my cup of tea. It's like Neil DeGrasse Tyson's tweets.

Throckmorton

Hmm. Maybe the hype set an expectation the book was never going to meet. I enjoyed it, after a fashion. It took me two attempts to get going, initially it just didn't grab me enough. But then I pressed on, and found it less hard to pick up again. There's some wry humour, and more than a few subtle digs at various things. I wouldn't say those stylistic choices add or detract from the book. They are what they are (some made me chuckle). Being a brief history means plenty of topics might be a paragraph or two, or a page at most - some of which caused me to break off and go to find deeper material. Can't fault that. Maybe I just need to discuss it further with somebody to fully appreciate it. Is it "essential reading"? Probably not. Is it worth a read though? Yes, for sure.

Mark Phillips

Official U.S. edition with full color illustrations throughout. #1 New York Times Bestseller The Summer Reading Pick for President Barack Obama, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg, now available as a beautifully packaged paperback From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity’s creation and evolution—a #1 international bestseller—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? Featuring 27 photographs, 6 maps, and 25 illustrations/diagrams, this provocative and insightful work is sure to spark debate and is essential reading for aficionados of Jared Diamond, James Gleick, Matt Ridley, Robert Wright, and Sharon Moalem.

Christian Bager Bach Houmann

I loved reading this book. Absolutely an amazing read throughout.

Chris Dailey

Titanic tome with an daunting topic - the history of humanity. Written in a digestible, often bordering on entertaining style, the book covers Homo Sapiens (and other Humans) from pre-history into the near future. Bucketing our species' development into 'revolutions' (cognitive, agricultural, scientific) and covering a spate of events in each period, its strengths are the anecdotes, one-offs, trivia and ambition. Some theories land like the broad division these revolutions and diagnosis on how humans were able to leap from nomadic kin based groups into a collective, borderless, global community through economic, political and religious tools. Lots of misses too though, particularly the at times condescending tone, selective examples, contradictions, and glorification (maybe tongue-in-cheek?) of our ancestors. Fascinating to read even when you disagree and full of knowledges. Lots of breadth, little depth.

I enjoyed being told stuff I basically already knew but in a slightly new and very matter of fact way. Made me want to Google lots of random things while I was reading, which is probably a good sign that it was interesting

Terra Ganey

Sanjay Krishna 

Interesting thoughts. Doesn't live up to the hype.

Timeo Williams

Perhaps the best book I have ever read. Yuval does an amazing job of encapsulating human history with an underlying tone of sarcastic humor.

Teresa Bonifácio

What a book. It really makes you think about the way humans got where we are now. I certainly started to view us more as the bad guys (I already had that idea of the Sapiens!). It makes you wonder where we are going to stop and how. If the last species to go into extinction will be ours.

Aparna

Sapiens:A brief history of mankind

A book which is history written in the most interesting manner where the author tries to establish how Homo(Man) evolves into an Homo Sapiens(Wise man) briefing about how people use their brains,tools they used and their social culture.
His pictures of the earliest man,the foragers and agrarians fascinated me the most.It takes us in the journey of how agriculture started,how it changed with each generation.
Harari's books comes with certain flaws he couldn't piece the shards of medieval with imaginative prehistoric human. His thoughts on religion in the medieval era doesn't impress me much.There's lot about church history how mighty is the church which seems to be boring because it affects the flow.
Of all Mr.Harari is an intelligent writer who works on a prescribed agenda but since he goes far and wide across different areas letting confusing characters engulf us making us think whether it's a must read book or not.

The size of the book seems to be two Dan Brown's and is at a slow pace so u may find it least interesting in the middle.

This book has its exciting moments and interesting framings. I really enjoy the first part and the happiness chapter. The tight relationship between science and imperialism sucks big time but was a good point. The animal domestication discussion is important and renewed my motivation to reduce animal product intake. I like how the book is organized and there is plenty of useful information. But overall, I'm quite iffy about how he processed his materials.

I'm a skeptic and I approach my non-fiction reading with 'ok but why should I believe you?' attitude. Time and time, he left me hanging with insufficient arguments and evidence. I'd love a brief "history of mankind" to be more neutral and less subjective. This, instead, is very opinionated. I'm not a historian, I don't know my facts, but I can sense when he had trailed off his and threw in his personal pennies in lieu. And this happened too many times. His glorification of hunting-gathering cherry-picked the idle peaceful parts and under imagined the anxious and painful parts of being in fights daily. His references to Islam this and Islam that were often underresourced. The talk of imperialism grossly glossed over the victims as if they were NPCs. His minimizing some ancient kingdoms' choice (or I dare say wisdom) not to explore, conquer, and exploit unknown lands, unlike the Europeans, at the expense of acquiring science was pushing greed as the supreme way of life, which, well, is fair as a Personal Opinion. And I'm honestly fine with opinions, if only they're treated as opinions. There are more things that don't sit right with me. Some of them might not be written explicitly, but factoring in the timely jeering tone, I can't help getting the partial impression. Of course, he's entitled to his opinions, and for that, I've decided that instead of a factual historical non-fiction, this book is a lengthy essay, to be taken with grainS of salt. 

On an important note, I'm not happy at all with Palestine's erasure in this. There's a chapter on war, and I've waited and waited for how he would put Palestine-Israel in the perspective. But he only mentioned Israel-Syria conflict in passing, and severely underrated the seriousness of any war that is still happening currently, including the huge gajah di pelupuk of Israel di Palestine. Is this, what, the government's censoring?? Simply avoiding the topic? Ethnic cleansing apologism?? This stance makes the whole chapter extra unconvincing.

This book is thought-provoking, not a herald of absolute truth. Read this if you want, but do check out other similar books to get a second and third opinion. I will too.

"Sapiens" by Yuval Noah Harari is a thought-provoking ride through human history. It brilliantly stitches together the evolution, cultures, and economies shaping humankind. Harari's insights on how societal structures emerged are enlightening, presenting complex ideas in an accessible manner. However, it's not without its critics. Some argue Harari oversimplifies history and his interpretations may lean on speculation. Also, the vast timeline covered means some parts feel rushed. Nonetheless, it's a compelling read, offering a broad perspective on humanity's journey.

Erwin Lemuel Oliva

Chaitanya Baranwal

Personally, this book has been quite a ride for me.

Sapiens presented itself as "A Brief History of Humankind" and it does justice to the title. The book, in essence, is a abridged version of all that has happened since humans started existing in this world – right from originating in one corner of Africa to being able to harness science and technology to bring about unprecedented changes to the human species. I could break down the book into 5 parts: the very start of the human species, the Cognitive Revolution, the Agricultural Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, and the Scientific Revolution (no, I am not looking at the book sections right now). In each section, Harari covers how a massive change was brought about in the human race, be it biological, social or environmental changes. He then goes on to talk about the many differences that this change brought about in how humans carry on with their life.

The first half of the book fell a little "flat" to me – too many facts and ideas which I often did not find relatable because of the drastic difference between then and now. This is not Harari's fault though, he is simply laying out what he thinks is true. What I think could have been done better is more nuances and backing in Harari's claims. Oftentimes, I felt that his conclusions were hasty and assuming, which led me to question his claims and disagree with them. The latter half was more engaging, because it moved into determining why our society works the way it does in current times. This section covered concepts like religion and economics, and maybe because I never delved into these topics did I find them interesting. The book ends with all the wild possibilities that lie in front of the human race because of technological disruption, and Harari mixed these with all its philosophical, political and ethical consequences.

The book covers a lot of ground, I will give it that. Definitely recommend it to anyone who wants an overview of the major happenings in our small time on earth as humankind, and all the possibilties which might mark our future!

It’s a good intro to Homo sapiens’ birth and history, with fascinating explanations on social systems, ideologies, and religions. It gets a bit dull towards the end though.

Jieun Lee

hileahrious

A book I think everyone should give a go... not because I agree with everything or because it is so great, but because it is a book that will really make you think. Think about your life, your surroundings, what you know, what you don’t know. Overall, it will challenge your perspectives on human existence, history, progress, beliefs, happiness, and beyond. And if there is something very lacking in this world of today, it is THOUGHT about oneself not as an individual, but as part of something bigger and more destructive than you could’ve ever imagined. 

Other reasons for reading this book: it reads almost like a conversation, includes quite a lot of sassy jokes, you’ll brush up on history you probably forgot or never learned, and you’ll probably have several existential crises, which are always great fun.

veekay

Terrific journey it has been. Took me too long to read but I've had fun!

Marie

I stopped reading this book at like 60% because it got way too depressing.

Very informative and interesting book. There was a bit in the middle where it got very slow and dense, but it was so worth it to continue. 

It's a nice glance over the entire history of humanity with an in-depth look at the influences agriculture, capitalism, and money have had on the homosapien species, and how we in turn have created and influenced the former

Emma Lechner

Very informative and interesting book. There was a bit in the middle where it got very slow and dense, but it was so worth it to continue. 

It's a nice glance over the entire history of humanity with an in-depth look at the influences agriculture, capitalism, and money have had on the homosapien species, and how we in turn have created and influenced the former

Amena Elkayal

One of the best books I've read so far! it is brilliant! A MUST READ book!

Doan Tran Minh Thanh &
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari

Reviews

Highlights

Join the club

Doan Tran Minh Thanh &Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari

Reviews

Highlights

Join the club

Doan Tran Minh Thanh &
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari