Being Human: How our biology shaped world history

A mind-expanding, revolutionary journey across time that shows how our biology has determined human history for the first time. This book will change how you see the world.

We’re a wonder of evolution, capable of incredible feats. But we’re also deeply flawed. Our bodies and minds often break, fail, and hinder us. To be human is to live with this extraordinary contradiction. So, to understand the course humanity has taken – from prehistoric times through the age of empire and into the modern era – we must understand who, and what, we are.

Being Human is history made flesh. From the epidemic that brought Europe’s peasants freedom, to the health deficiency which gave rise to the world’s largest criminal organisation, to the cognitive biases that led to military catastrophes in Crimea and Iraq, we see how our unique nature shaped our relationships, economies and societies – and, importantly, how it continues to impact human progress today.

Review

Always an interesting and engaging writer, Dartnell ... finds fascinating nuggets in familiar stories ― Guardian

I’ve always liked Dartnell’s books for their factiness ― Sunday Times

An illuminating journey through history using our bodies as the vehicle. It's quite a ride! ― Tim Marshall, author of Prisoners of Geography

Wide-ranging, comprehensive and refreshing ― Thomas Halliday, author of Otherlands

A wild ride through science, history and prehistory, full of unexpected connections and delightful insights ― Tim Harford, author of How to Make the World Add Up

A revolutionary account of human progress. This is history as you've never read it before: a gripping, red-blooded narrative from a master storyteller ― Jo Marchant, author of The Human Cosmos

A sublime, mind-expanding exploration of who we are and how we got here ― Richard Fisher, author of The Long View

Brilliantly entertaining and beautifully written, Being Human forces you to see the world in a totally new way. Interdisciplinary history at its best ― Jonathan Kennedy, author of Pathogenesis

A spirited canter through the ways our biology has inescapably affected world history that'll open your eyes and stretch your mind ― Henry Gee, author of A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth

Bursting with scientific stories, this is a fascinating exploration of how our flawed biology shapes how we live, love, thrive and die. Being Human will make you think in a new light about yourself and your species ― Kat Arney, author of Rebel Cell

A brilliant, super-informative and enjoyable read ― Dr Camilla Pang, author of Explaining Humans

Lewis Dartnell has a well-deserved reputation for engaging writing on big themes. Being Human is so engrossing that it's hard to put down ― Martin Rees, author of If Science is To Save Us

Dartnell has done it again. Full of surprising, vivid and profound lessons, this book is quite literally wonderful ― Ed Conway, author of Material World

About the Author

Lewis Dartnell is an astrobiology researcher and professor at the University of Westminster, and also an Honorary Research Associate at University College London (UCL). He is the author of the bestselling books The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Our World from Scratch and Origins: How the Earth Shaped Human History, which has been translated into 26 languages. He writes for the Guardian, The Times and New Scientist. Copies of The Knowledge exist on the surface of the Moon, and in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.