Sapiens: A Graphic History

I don’t know where I was when everyone else was reading Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari, but it was probably college, so while I’ve definitely heard of the book (and saw it on all the lists), I have never read the book. Did that stop me from picking up the graphic adaptation of it? Absolutely not. Was I a little overwhelmed at times? Yes.

Ultimately, four stars, and I’m looking forward to reading the next volume.

Told as if Yuval is informing his young niece about the history of mankind, as if he’s on the lecture series, this graphic adaptation is chocccck full of information. It’s seriously a BIG graphic novel–like a full printer page large–and at 250 pages or so, it’s full of key points. There are also segments imagining cave-men reality shows, graphic adaptations of movie trailers, Survivor-like takes on evolution, et cetera. I don’t know how different this edition is from the main book, to be honest. It’s volume 1 or…what I assume will be 2?

To decide if this book is for you, I recommend watching this video. Happy at the end? Great, pick it up!

Having not read this book but been pretty well-versed in some of the theories/research behind early human history, I was able to follow this book pretty well. I do think it would be hard even for a teenager, but it could be a potentially good family-read with an adult and a teenager. Something to keep in mind is, Harari is a historian, so yeah, it’s going to be a little dense at times. Have you ever spoken to a historian?

Sapiens: A Graphic History (Vol 1) is on sale wherever books are sold.