My rating: 4/5 stars

“We are more powerful than ever before, but have very little idea what to do with all that power. Worse still, humans seem to be more irresponsible than ever. Self-made gods with only the laws of physics to keep us company, we are accountable to no one. We are consequently wreaking havoc on our fellow animals and on the surrounding ecosystem, seeking little more than our own comfort and amusement, yet never finding satisfaction. Is there anything more dangerous than dissatisfied and irresponsible gods who don’t know what they want?”

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

From the Big Bang to the present day & age of technology, Harari takes you on a journey of how our world today has come to exist. It covers the evolution of literally everything: matter & energy, our food consumption, animals, language, clothes & fashion, jobs & the economy, religion, slavery, racism, sexism, medicine, science & research, education etc. and it’s amazing to see how everything interconnects along the way.

Some of my favourite chapters were:

• There Is No Justice in History 
• The Discovery of Ignorance
• The Capitalist Creed 
• Building Pyramids

One of the best parts about this reading experience is that each chapter is written in THE most digestible way. I’m not sure how to explain it but even the “less exciting” chapters were surprisingly enjoyable to read.

Overall, this book is exactly what it says it is: a brief history of humankind. Sure, it’s almost 500 pages long, and took me nearly 3 weeks to read but that’s as brief as 14 billion years of history is going to get.