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Humankind: A Hopeful History Paperback – 13 May 2021
Rutger Bregman (Author) See search results for this 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 length496 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
- Publication date13 May 2021
- Dimensions19.8 x 3.4 x 12.9 cm
- ISBN-101408898950
- ISBN-13978-1408898956
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Product description
Review
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
From the Back Cover
'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.
About the Author
Rutger Bregman, a historian and writer at the Correspondent, is one of Europe's most prominent young thinkers. His last book, Utopia for Realists, was a Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller and has been translated into thirty-two languages. He lives in Holland.
@rcbregman | rutgerbregman.com
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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)
- Customer reviews:
About the authors
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.
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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Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 December 2020
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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.
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).
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.
wholeheartedly recommended,
PS. there's a missing word on page 253, - Bloomsbury should probably get that fixed.