Being Human

A unique reframing of human history as shaped by our physical abilities and limitations - by the Sunday Times-bestselling author of Origins

Being Human is history made flesh. It will change the way you see the world.

We are a wonder of evolution. Powerful yet dextrous, instinctive yet thoughtful, we are expert communicators and innovators. Our exceptional abilities have created the civilisation we know today.

But we're also deeply flawed. Our bodies break, choke and fail. Diseases thwart our boldest plans. Our psychological biases have been at the root of terrible decisions in both war and peacetime.

This extraordinary contradiction is the essence of what it means to be human. And history has played out in the balance between them: from our reaction to caffeine shaping Islamic religious practices and the Black Death ending feudalism to haemophilia undermining royal families across Europe and scurvy inadvertently giving rise to the Mafia, we are the sum of our frailties and faculties.

Now, for the first time, Lewis Dartnell tells our story through the lens of this unique, capricious, and fragile nature. He explores how our biology has shaped our relationships, our societies, our economies, and our wars - and how it continues to challenge and define our progress.