Homo Sapiens: The History of Humanity and the Development of Civilization

by William Potter

In just a blink of geological time, the human species spread out from Africa and colonised every corner of the globe, and subjugated the new environments they came across to their will. How did humanity become so dominant so quickly? And what did they then do with this new power?

Homo Sapiens tells the story of the species from its earliest evolutions through the development of the first civilizations up to the industrial and information revolutions that have shaped the modern age. William Potter's thrilling new account asks us to reconsider our traditional notions of history by examining the power of the environment, the influence of language, the ideas that have transformed society, the power of transformative technology, and much, much more.

Filled with beautiful full-colour illustrations throughout, Homo Sapiens presents the history of the species in a bold and brilliant new fashion.

Genres: History

511 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 1, 2023

Reviews

[Yamini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Covering a wide array of topics the book starts with the evolution of human beings to answer various questions related to it (such as, why just homo sapiens survived). From that point, the book widens its horizons in several directions by talking about history, geography, trade, war and even environmental impacts on homo sapiens.

While I did enjoy the various topics discussed in the book, I found it difficult to stay composed when the point of discussion hopped from one subject to the next. Another issue I had was how certain words and concepts were addressed. A better transition to the topics is required if we read this work from the perspective of a single book. Otherwise, it would better be stated out as essays on different topics related to human beings.

Thank you @netgalley @arcturusbooks for this audiobook. Though I am still okay with the content, the pronunciation of different words from multiple cultures (non-English ones particularly) is not accurate and so I did not enjoy the narration.

Genre: #nonfiction #history #religion #science #humanity
Rating: 3/5 ⭐️

[Sarah Faichney · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely potted history of humanity. Wildly ambitious, enormous in scope and endlessly interesting. I listened to the audiobook version. Linkage between sections/topics isn't great but it may be easier to follow if reading, as opposed to listening. Overall, I really enjoyed it. I think the book would work as an excellent jumping off point for further research, as a multitude of topics are introduced in brief. The narrator speaks in what I consider to be RP English, which I find quite dry and soporific. For this reason, I had to spend a lot of time rewinding. The content, however, is presented in a way which is accessible and I really appreciate being able to learn so much, from just one book, as a layperson. I will be recommending this one and gifting copies. 

[Jeff Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book covers thousands of years of development from Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals to the current day. It won’t get into great depth but does a great job introducing practically everything. Then if you want more in depth you should go find a Great Courses book on the specific topic.

It tends to take a topical approach as much as a timeline view. What I mean is while it moves forward on a timeline, it will run a topic out then for the next topic May back up a few years to run the topic out.

I enjoyed the book for its width. And in some ways it brings new information because of the width. For example, if we look at Middle Ages and the plague. Most things I’ve read cover Europe well but not the rest of the world. Whereas this book gives insight into how other continents were affected.

As a note, I did receive this Audible book with a free promotion code with the request I publish a review after completing. That in no way changed my feelings about the book.

[Laura Newsholme · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting and informative exploration of humanity from its earliest beginnings through to what it could be in the future. I don't know why, but I thought there would be more focus on prehistoric and ancient times, so it took me a while to get on board with the more modern chapters. However, I did appreciate that time was given to eastern and African cultures instead of all the focus being on Europe and I did enjoy the final chapter talking about what humans could do next. Overall, I enjoyed this once I readjusted my expectations.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

[Stacey Mckeogh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good basic look at the history of civilisation. It doesn’t go into much detail about each event but does give a good overview of them so you get a general idea. It does feel a little disjointed but then this also gives you an idea of what was happening if different parts of the world at the same time.
I did enjoy this but didn’t learn massive amounts.

[Tarik · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay. This book covered a lot of ground and gave good information.