The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity

The Dawn of Everything is a groundbreaking book that challenges traditional views of human history and offers a new perspective on the origins of farming, property, cities, democracy, slavery, and civilization. It is a monumental work of intellectual range, animated by curiosity, moral vision, and faith in the power of direct action.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 720 pages
Publication date: 02 June 2022
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

The New York Times bestseller and Sunday Times, Observer, and BBC History Book of the Year finalist for the Orwell Prize for Political Writing 2022 is a groundbreaking and potentially revolutionary work. Pacey and irreverent, it challenges prevailing narratives about human history, revealing how our remote ancestors have been portrayed as primitive and childlike, either free and equal or thuggish and warlike. In this groundbreaking book, David Graeber and David Wengrow challenge these theories and overturn our understanding of human history, including the origins of farming, property, cities, democracy, slavery, and civilization itself.

Drawing on path-breaking research in archaeology and anthropology, the authors reveal how history becomes far more interesting once we begin to see what is truly there. They challenge the notion that humans spent 95% of their evolutionary past in tiny bands of hunter-gatherers and show how agriculture and cities led to new social and economic organizations. The answers are often unexpected, suggesting that the course of history may be less set in stone and more full of playful possibilities than we tend to assume.

The Dawn of Everything fundamentally transforms our understanding of the human past and offers a path toward imagining new forms of freedom and new ways of organizing society. This monumental book of formidable intellectual range is animated by curiosity, moral vision, and faith in the power of human creativity and agency. It is a must-read for anyone interested in history, politics, and the future of our world.

Weight: 494g
Dimension: 130 x 197 x 36 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780141991061