"First published in Hebrew in Israel in 2011 by Kinneret, Zmora-Bitan, Dvir"--Title page verso. "Translated by the author, with the help of John Purcell and Haim Watzman."--Title page verso. "Previously published in a slightly different form in Great Britain in 2014 by Harvill Secker, a division of the Random House Group Ltd."--Title page verso. Includes bibliographical references and index.

"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"-- Part One: The Cognitive Revolution -- Part Two: The Agricultural Revolution -- Part Three: The Unification of Humankind -- Part Four: The Scientific Revolution. Timeline of History -- An Animal of No Significance. Skeletons in the closet ; The cost of thinking ; A race of cooks ; Our brothers' keepers -- The Tree of Knowledge. The legend of Peugeot ; Bypassing the genome ; What happened in the cognitive revolution? ; History and biology -- A Day in the Life of Adam and Eve. The original affluent society ; Talking ghosts ; Peace or war? ; The curtain of silence -- The Flood. Guilty as charged ; The end of sloth ; Noah's Ark -- History's Biggest Fraud. The luxury trap ; Divine intervention ; Victims of the revolution -- Building Pyramids. The coming of the future ; An imagined order ; True believers ; The prison walls -- Memory Overload. Signed, Kushim ; The wonders of bureaucracy ; The language of numbers -- There is No Justice in History. The vicious circle ; Purity in America ; He and she ; Sex and gender ; What's so good about men? ; Muscle power ; The scum of society ; Patriarchal genes -- The Arrow of History. The spy satellite ; The global vision -- The Scent of Money. How much is it? ; Shells and cigarettes ; How does money work? ; The gospel of gold ; The price of money -- Imperial Visions. What is an empire? ; Evil empires? ; It's for your own good ; When they become us ; The imperial cycle ; Good guys and bad guys in history ; The new global empire -- The Law of Religion. Silencing the lambs ; The benefits of idolatry ; God is One ; The battle of Good and Evil ; The law of nature ; The worship of man ; Humanists religions : Religions that sanctify humanity -- The Secret of Success. The hindsight fallacy ; Blind Clio -- The Discovery of Ignorance. Ignoramus ; The scientific dogma ; Knowledge is power ; The ideal of progress ; The Gilgamesh Project ; The sugar daddy of science -- The Marriage of Science and Empire. Why Europe? ; The mentality of conquest ; Empty maps ; Invasion from outer space ; Rare spiders and forgotten scripts -- The Capitalist Creed. A growing pie ; Columbus searches for an investor ; In the name of capital ; The cult of the free market ; The capitalist hell -- The Wheels of Industry. The secret in the kitchen ; An ocean of energy ; Life on the conveyor belt ; The age of shopping -- A Permanent Revolution. Modern time ; The collapse of the family and the community ; Imagined communities ; Perpetuum mobile ; Peace in our time ; Imperial retirement ; Pax Atomica -- And They Lived Happily Ever After. Counting happiness ; Chemical happiness ; The meaning of life ; Know thyself -- The End of Homo Sapiens. Of mice and men ; The return of the Neanderthals ; Bionic life ; Another life ; The singularity ; The Frankenstein prophecy -- Afterword: The Animal that Became a God.