Humankind

A Hopeful History

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Humankind

By: Rutger Bregman

Narrated by: Rutger Bregman, Thomas Judd

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$8.99/month after 3 months. Cancel anytime. Offer ends on 29 July 2026 at 11:59 AEST.

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Bloomsbury presents Humankind by Rutger Bregman, read by Thomas Judd and Rutger Bregman.

THE SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A Guardian, Daily Telegraph, New Statesman and Daily Express Book of the Year

‘Hugely, highly and happily recommended’
Stephen Fry

‘You should read Humankind. You’ll learn a lot (I did) and you’ll have good reason to feel better about the human race’
Tim Harford

‘The book we need right now’
Daily Telegraph

'Made me see humanity from a fresh perspective'
Yuval Noah Harari

It’s a belief that unites the left and right, psychologists and philosophers, writers and historians. It drives the headlines that surround us and the laws that touch our lives. From Machiavelli to Hobbes, Freud to Dawkins, the roots of this belief have sunk deep into Western thought. Human beings, we’re taught, are by nature selfish and governed by self-interest.

Humankind makes a new argument: that it is realistic, as well as revolutionary, to assume that people are good. The instinct to cooperate rather than compete, trust rather than distrust, has an evolutionary basis going right back to the beginning of Homo sapiens. By thinking the worst of others, we bring out the worst in our politics and economics too.

In this major book, internationally bestselling author Rutger Bregman takes some of the world’s most famous studies and events and reframes them, providing a new perspective on the last 200,000 years of human history. From the real-life Lord of the Flies to the Blitz, a Siberian fox farm to an infamous New York murder, Stanley Milgram’s Yale shock machine to the Stanford prison experiment, Bregman shows how believing in human kindness and altruism can be a new way to think – and act as the foundation for achieving true change in our society.

It is time for a new view of human nature.©2020 Rutger Bregman (P)2020 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Rutger BregmanRutger BregmanThomas JuddBloomsbury Publishing

20th Century

Economics

Education

Ethics & Morality

Modern

Philosophy

Inspiring

Heartfelt

Thought-Provoking

Social justice

Capitalism

20th Century Economics Education Ethics & Morality Modern Philosophy Inspiring Heartfelt Thought-Provoking Social justice Capitalism

Critic Reviews

An optimistic historian sifts through the past in his mission to prove that mankind might not be so bad . . . A superb read - brisk, accessible and full of great stories

This is the book we need right now . . . Entertaining, uplifting . . . If Bregman is right, this book might just make the world a kinder place

Here, we visit the blitz, Lord of the Flies – both the novel and a very different real-life version – a Siberian fox farm, an infamous New York murder and a host of discredited psychological studies . . . There’s a great deal of reassuring human decency to be taken from this bold and thought-provoking book . . . It makes a welcome change to read such a sustained and enjoyable tribute to our better natures

Filled with compelling tales of human goodness . . . Bregman’s book is a thrilling read and it represents a necessary correction

Humankind displays [Bregman's] gift for synthesising libraries full of academic research into spellbinding reads. I whizzed through Humankind’s 480 pages, engrossed

The notion that we already have the capacity to radically improve the world is both an exhilarating and a daunting one

Bregman argues convincingly that what we teach and report about ourselves, we become . . . Bold, entertaining and uplifting

Bregman’s book is something of a beacon at the moment, when many are looking for values to profess in our traumatised and altered society . . . People have started to talk about this book: perhaps the moment of this entirely positive, heartening message is about to come (Alexander McCall Smith)

Lively and illuminating . . . Even a few months ago, [the idea that most people behave well in most circumstances] might have seemed, as Bregman claims, “a radical idea”. The coronavirus crisis has made it blindingly obvious

This book must be read by as many people as possible - only when people change their view of human nature will they begin to believe in the possibility of building a better world (Grace Blakeley)

One of the most powerful books I have read for a long time, and a book I have absolutely no hesitation about saying everyone needs to read, and that it will change your life if you do so (Matthew Taylor, RSA)

Rutger Bregman’s extraordinary new book is a revelation . . . Humankind is masterful in its grasp of history, both ancient and modern (Susan Cain, author of 'Quiet')

Cynicism is a theory of everything, but, as Rutger Bregman brilliantly shows, an elective one. This necessary book widens the aperture of possibility for a better future, and radically (David Wallace-Wells, author of 'The Uninhabitable Earth')

This important book is almost preternatural in its timing and argument. Rutger Bregman is poetic in his rejection of a Hobbesian view of our true natures. The gigantic upheavals of 2020 have proved him right. Reading this during lockdown changed the way I think about our humanity. We are good (Dan Snow)

Most relevant

Motivated and moved to do more for humanity. To share this wisdom with others and to ‘be more realistic’ about Human Kind.

Absolutely fantastic book, well-researched, beautifully written and truly captivating.