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Rutger Bregman

Erica Moore

Humankind: A Hopeful History Paperback – 13 May 2021

by Rutger Bregman (Author)

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THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
A Guardian, Daily Telegraph, New Statesman and Daily Express Book of the Year

'Hugely, highly and happily recommended' Stephen Fry
'You should read Humankind. You'll learn a lot (I did) and you'll have good reason to feel better about the human race' Tim Harford
'Made me see humanity from a fresh perspective' Yuval Noah Harari

It's a belief that unites the left and right, psychologists and philosophers, writers and historians. It drives the headlines that surround us and the laws that touch our lives. From Machiavelli to Hobbes, Freud to Dawkins, the roots of this belief have sunk deep into Western thought. Human beings, we're taught, are by nature selfish and governed by self-interest.

Humankind makes a new argument: that it is realistic, as well as revolutionary, to assume that people are good. By thinking the worst of others, we bring out the worst in our politics and economics too.

In this major book, internationally bestselling author Rutger Bregman takes some of the world's most famous studies and events and reframes them, providing a new perspective on the last 200,000 years of human history. From the real-life Lord of the Flies to the Blitz, a Siberian fox farm to an infamous New York murder, Stanley Milgram's Yale shock machine to the Stanford prison experiment, Bregman shows how believing in human kindness and altruism can be a new way to think - and act as the foundation for achieving true change in our society.

It is time for a new view of human nature.

Print length

496 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date

13 May 2021
Dimensions

19.8 x 3.4 x 12.9 cm
ISBN-10

1408898950
ISBN-13

978-1408898956
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From the Publisher

Here's a radical idea: most people are good

'This book might Just make the world a kinder place' - Telegraph

Product description

Review

An optimistic historian sifts through the past in his mission to prove that mankind might not be so bad . . . A superb read - brisk, accessible and full of great stories ― Sunday Times

This is the book we need right now . . . Entertaining, uplifting . . . If Bregman is right, this book might just make the world a kinder place ― Telegraph

Here, we visit the blitz, Lord of the Flies - both the novel and a very different real-life version - a Siberian fox farm, an infamous New York murder and a host of discredited psychological studies . . . There's a great deal of reassuring human decency to be taken from this bold and thought-provoking book . . . It makes a welcome change to read such a sustained and enjoyable tribute to our better natures ― Observer

Filled with compelling tales of human goodness . . . Bregman's book is a thrilling read and it represents a necessary correction ― The Times

Humankind displays [Bregman's] gift for synthesising libraries full of academic research into spellbinding reads. I whizzed through Humankind's 480 pages, engrossed ― Financial Times

The notion that we already have the capacity to radically improve the world is both an exhilarating and a daunting one ― New Statesman

Bregman argues convincingly that what we teach and report about ourselves, we become . . . Bold, entertaining and uplifting ― Spectator

Bregman's book is something of a beacon at the moment, when many are looking for values to profess in our traumatised and altered society . . . People have started to talk about this book: perhaps the moment of this entirely positive, heartening message is about to come -- Alexander McCall Smith ― Scotsman

Lively and illuminating . . . Even a few months ago, [the idea that most people behave well in most circumstances] might have seemed, as Bregman claims, "a radical idea". The coronavirus crisis has made it blindingly obvious ― Irish Times

This book must be read by as many people as possible - only when people change their view of human nature will they begin to believe in the possibility of building a better world -- Grace Blakeley

One of the most powerful books I have read for a long time, and a book I have absolutely no hesitation about saying everyone needs to read, and that it will change your life if you do so -- Matthew Taylor, RSA

Rutger Bregman's extraordinary new book is a revelation . . . Humankind is masterful in its grasp of history, both ancient and modern -- Susan Cain, author of 'Quiet'

Cynicism is a theory of everything, but, as Rutger Bregman brilliantly shows, an elective one. This necessary book widens the aperture of possibility for a better future, and radically -- David Wallace-Wells, author of 'The Uninhabitable Earth'

This important book is almost preternatural in its timing and argument. Rutger Bregman is poetic in his rejection of a Hobbesian view of our true natures. The gigantic upheavals of 2020 have proved him right. Reading this during lockdown changed the way I think about our humanity. We are good -- Dan Snow

Rutger Bregman is out on his own, thinking for himself, using history to give the rest of us a chance to build a much better future than we can presently imagine -- Timothy Snyder, Holocaust historian and author of 'On Tyranny'

A devastating demolition of the misanthrope's mantra. A beacon of hope for a frighted world -- Professor Danny Dorling, author of 'Inequality and the 1%'

Book Description

The major new book from Dutch historian and internationally bestselling author Rutger Bregman

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bloomsbury Publishing; 1st edition (13 May 2021)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 496 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1408898950
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1408898956
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 19.8 x 3.4 x 12.9 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 964 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 1 in Educational Strategies & Policies
- 5 in Ethics & Morality (Books)
- 6 in Business & Economic History

Customer reviews:
5,472 ratings

About the authors

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Erica Moore
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Erica is the founder of the language girl—a translation, editing, and copywriting firm that helps Dutch authors and organizations find their voice in English. Books include GRIP by Rick Pastoor with Elizabeth Manton, out this month from HarperCollins, and HUMANKIND: a Hopeful History, also with Elizabeth, out now from Bloomsbury and in a new paperback edition from Little, Brown.
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Rutger Bregman
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Rutger Bregman is one of Europe’s most prominent young thinkers. The 27-year-old historian and author has published four books on history, philosophy, and economics. His History of Progress was awarded the Belgian Liberales prize for best nonfiction book of 2013. The Dutch edition of Utopia for Realists became a national bestseller and sparked a basic income movement that soon made international headlines. Bregman has twice been nominated for the prestigious European Press Prize for his journalism work at The Correspondent. His work has been featured in The Washington Post and on the BBC.
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jennylambchop

Arrives at the right moment however paints in broad brushstrokes

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 May 2020

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This is an uplifting and hopeful book which has arrived at just the right time to lift spirits and to increase solidarity. It picks interesting and varied case studies to make its points, arguing the central thesis that even in what appear to be the worse situations, humans kind nature always bobs to the surface. I am enjoying reading it, however it is not really an academic text, more a text written for the popular market. It is painted in broad brushstrokes and there is a lack of nuance. Each case study seems to follow the same story arc of an incident of human cruelty being subverted to reveal an underlying human kindness in quite an artificial way in places. For instance in introducing the horror of the German concentration camps it asks how this could have happened in one of the most wealthy and advanced countries of the world. This is inaccurate though. Germany immediately before the war was in the grip of a worldwide depression and poor through paying war reparations in the aftermath of WW1. This was part of the socio-economic situation that allowed the National Socialists to rise to power. Rutger is a great storty-teller, though not a historian. A good book, though not wholly as nuanced as it could be.

126 people found this helpful

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PW

Not convinced

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 June 2020

Verified Purchase

An interesting read but the author didn't convince me of mankind's goodness. My own experience tells me that Homo puppy (author's terminology) is anything but. He also left out of his book the sorry tale of the mutineers of the Bounty who sailed to Pitcairn island. Within a few years half of the men had been murdered by the other half, the remainder murdered by the women who sailed to Pitcairn with them, only one of the mutineers survived. And yes, this remaining mutineer did influence in a positive way the children of the mutineers born on the island who by all accounts were found living peacefully with each other 17 years after the mutineers landed there. But the mutineers did not revert to 'homo puppy' there, despite no longer being 'under the lash', no pooling resources, no co-operation, just suspicion, hatred and jealousy and finally murder most foul.
Perhaps they were just a bad lot and they are the exception to the rule as espoused by the author but my experience of 70 years of other peoples selfish nature is at odds with his research.

94 people found this helpful

Helpful

Basil

Excellent but no acknowledgement of "Sex at Dawn"

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 July 2020

Verified Purchase

I was drawn to this book by the hype. I eagerly read the first few chapters and was impressed by the positive story of the lost boys, and agree that Lord of the Flies is actually unrealistic, in contrast to received opinion. After that, there were lots of clever anecdotes all proving the point that humans are predisposed to be positive to each other. I really liked it when Rutger took Steven Pinker down. I read Pinker's 'Better Angels' book in 2012 and was completely taken in by it. I still think Pinker is right about modern society because there are lots of reliable data to prove that crime rates are falling, despite the news media's exaggerations. However, I agree when Rutger points out that Pinker was on flimsy ground about prehistoric homicide rates.
But as I read this, I kept asking "When is Rutger going to acknowledge 'Sex at Dawn' by Calcida Jetha & Christopher Ryan?", but he never did.
Sex at Dawn does an even more comprehensive job of counteracting Pinker. Calcida & Chris say that violence was low among prehistoric hunter-gatherers because (i) they had no fixed private property to fight over (ii) sexual freedom contributed to lower stress levels in society and (iii) plenty of room for nomadic groups to spread out and avoid resource conflicts.
However, I do like Rutger's observation that when hunter-gatherer groups met, friendliness was the norm, not rivalry, and that people probably switched groups, and so had a much wider social circle.
I'd be interested to know why Rutger didn't acknowledge this important book. (I did find one reference to "Sex at Dawn", but it was not relevant to the point I make above).

41 people found this helpful

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Rozza

if you buy one book this year, make it this one!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 May 2020

Verified Purchase

Arrived today. I've only read three chapters and its a joy. Humanity really is good, its lovely to read it in black and white! Obviously I need to finish this ASAP and complete the review however, go buy it, you won't regret it. Cogent, powerful argument backed up with meticulous research. Best buy this year.

31 people found this helpful

Helpful

Patricia Finney

What about the psychopaths?

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 June 2020

Verified Purchase

This is a wonderful book, blasting out of the water some of the biased and badly run psychological trials which claim to show humans are nasty.
However it doesn't deal with the functioning psychopaths who tend to lie and cheat their way to the top and are responsible for much of global heating. They are one in four of the European population and cause a disproportionate amount of trouble.

30 people found this helpful

Helpful

H. Smith

Bregman's magnum opus.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 May 2020

Verified Purchase

A truly wide-ranging book on the true nature of human nature. I read his previous book; 'Utopia for Realists', in a few days, simply because Bregman's writing style is so inviting. This is no exception, a true joy to read and with double the pages of his previous.

wholeheartedly recommended,

PS. there's a missing word on page 253, - Bloomsbury should probably get that fixed.

21 people found this helpful

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Derek Halden

Everyone should read this book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 June 2020

Verified Purchase

I loved Utopia for Realists - Bregman's first book to be translated into English. Humankind takes up the same themes and develops them into more into a more developed philosophy of utopianism. The book is a very easy read and worth every page. Bregman urges everyone to believe in the good, do good, and promote good things as the best way to achieve a better world. The less attention given to the darker side of humanity the better.

16 people found this helpful

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TOD

Reductive, naive cod psychology

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 August 2021

Verified Purchase

This book begins by dismantling the experiments of Zimbardo and Milgram and then tries to argue that people are actually much nicer and friendly than they - plus the likes of Hobbes and Golding - believe. I found his thesis facile and constantly overlooked important areas of discussion eg the patriarchal oppression of women. If you don't know much about social psychology you might be conned by this book. It condemns as cod psychology one strand of thought only to erect an even bigger monument of cod psychology in its place.

10 people found this helpful

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