The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity

"The past few years have given us many reasons to wonder: How did we get here? In The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity, an anthropologist and an archaeologist attempt to answer that question, while also examining the assumptions upon which most of social history is based. You may be familiar with the basic story that gets told: It starts with hunter-gatherers in their “state of nature,” which is followed by the rise of agriculture, which leads to population growth, private property and eventually hierarchy and bureaucracy, all culminating in the modern state. But what if that narrative is a little too linear and neatly organized? What if that version of history is actually kind of racist and sexist and overlooks many of the most interesting moments in the history of humankind? As we struggle with where to go next as a species, this book asks us to reexamine the story we’ve told about ourselves – and to imagine some new possibilities."

"I was also a big fan of The Dawn of Everything, by David Graeber and David Wengrow, because it challenges the way we see our current world and compares it with the culture of earlier, and different, ways of living."

"An enthralling read. On almost every page, you are compelled to revise your view of the past and imagine new ways of organizing the present."