Overview

"AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The ""lively"" (The New Yorker), ""convincing"" (Forbes), and ""riveting pick-me-up we all need right now"" (People) that proves humanity thrives in a crisis and that our innate kindness and cooperation have been the greatest factors in our long-term success as a species. If there is one belief that has united the left and the right, psychologists and philosophers, ancient thinkers and modern ones, it is the tacit assumption that humans are bad. It's a notion that drives newspaper headlines and guides the laws that shape our lives. From Machiavelli to Hobbes, Freud to Pinker, the roots of this belief have sunk deep into Western thought. Human beings, we're taught, are by nature selfish and governed primarily by self-interest. But what if it isn't true? International bestseller Rutger Bregman provides new perspective on the past 200,000 years of human history, setting out to prove that we are hardwired for kindness, geared toward cooperation rather than competition, and more inclined to trust rather than distrust one another. In fact this instinct has a firm evolutionary basis going back to the beginning of Homo sapiens. From the real-life Lord of the Flies to the solidarity in the aftermath of the Blitz, the hidden flaws in the Stanford prison experiment to the true story of twin brothers on opposite sides who helped Mandela end apartheid, Bregman shows us that believing in human generosity and collaboration isn't merely optimistic--it's realistic. Moreover, it has huge implications for how society functions. When we think the worst of people, it brings out the worst in our politics and economics. But if we believe in the reality of humanity's kindness and altruism, it will form the foundation for achieving true change in society, a case that Bregman makes convincingly with his signature wit, refreshing frankness, and memorable storytelling. ""The Sapiens of 2020."" --The Guardian ""Humankind made me see humanity from a fresh perspective."" --Yuval Noah Harari, author of the #1 bestseller Sapiens Longlisted for the 2021 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction One of the Washington Post's 50 Notable Nonfiction Works in 2020"

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Reviews

Convincing...Entertaining and reasoned...Bregman's book makes for enjoyable reading, and it is packed with colorful factual asides...Utopia for Realists should make for good conversation at the next dinner party. --Benjamin Cunningham, Los Angeles Review of Books Humankind is an in-depth overview of what is wrong with the idea is that we humans are by nature bad and unreliable. In vivid descriptions and stories, Rutger Bregman takes us back to the questionable experiments that fed this idea and offers us a more optimistic view of mankind. --Frans de Waal, New York Times bestselling author of Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? and Mama's Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us About Ourselves Both a fun read and a breath of fresh air to anyone who lived through the ghastly experience of last year's presidential election season . . . Utopia for Realists argues, with humor and sympathy, that we've all suffered from forgetting how to dream of a better world....What's so interesting about modern America is our hostility to the mere idea of trying to create an easier and happier life. We're a country that was once rich with social experimentation . . . Now we don't really even try, and mostly just scream at each other on the Internet. That doesn't seem like it will get us there. Maybe free money and a three-hour workday won't, either, but it sure seems like it would be more fun to try. --Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone A more politically radical Malcolm Gladwell...To the extent that bookish economic historians can rampage, Bregman is on one...He combines a detailed approach to economic policy with a utopian vision of a better future...Bregman argues that it is only by dreaming about what seems to be unachievable that society can make good things possible. --Patrick Kingsley, The New York Times

Beautifully written, well documented, myth-busting... Bregman brings psychological research and history together to present a remarkably positive, realistic view of the human animal. We are much better, much kinder, than most of us think we are, and when we realize that we become better yet... [It's] now number one on my list of what everyone should read. Read it and buy copies for all of your most cynical friends. --Peter Gray, author of Free to Learn: Why Releasing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life Rutger Bregman is out on his own, thinking for himself, using history to give the rest of us a chance to build a much better future than we can presently imagine. --Timothy Snyder, #1 New York Times bestselling author of On Tyranny and Bloodlands I greatly enjoyed reading Humankind, a challenging book which made me see humanity from a fresh perspective. I warmly recommend it to others, and I trust it will stir a lot of fruitful discussions. --Yuval Noah Harari, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Sapiens and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century Compelling... Humankind is an amazing book--thoughtful, engaging, optimistic, and true... It shows us how much where we start our thinking about human nature influences where we finish, even when where we start is dead wrong. Put aside your newspaper for a little while and read this book. --Barry Schwartz, author of the national bestseller The Paradox of Choice Convincing...Entertaining and reasoned...Bregman's book makes for enjoyable reading, and it is packed with colorful factual asides...Utopia for Realists should make for good conversation at the next dinner party. --Benjamin Cunningham, Los Angeles Review of Books A more politically radical Malcolm Gladwell...To the extent that bookish economic historians can rampage, Bregman is on one...He combines a detailed approach to economic policy with a utopian vision of a better future...Bregman argues that it is only by dreaming about what seems to be unachievable that society can make good things possible. --Patrick Kingsley, The New York Times Humankind is an in-depth overview of what is wrong with the idea is that we humans are by nature bad and unreliable. In vivid descriptions and stories, Rutger Bregman takes us back to the questionable experiments that fed this idea and offers us a more optimistic view of mankind. --Frans de Waal, New York Times bestselling author of Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? and Mama's Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us About Ourselves Both a fun read and a breath of fresh air to anyone who lived through the ghastly experience of last year's presidential election season . . . Utopia for Realists argues, with humor and sympathy, that we've all suffered from forgetting how to dream of a better world....What's so interesting about modern America is our hostility to the mere idea of trying to create an easier and happier life. We're a country that was once rich with social experimentation . . . Now we don't really even try, and mostly just scream at each other on the Internet. That doesn't seem like it will get us there. Maybe free money and a three-hour workday won't, either, but it sure seems like it would be more fun to try. --Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone

Humankind is an in-depth overview of what is wrong with the idea is that we humans are by nature bad and unreliable. In vivid descriptions and stories, Rutger Bregman takes us back to the questionable experiments that fed this idea and offers us a more optimistic view of mankind. --Frans de Waal, New York Times bestselling author of Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? and Mama's Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us About Ourselves Convincing...Entertaining and reasoned...Bregman's book makes for enjoyable reading, and it is packed with colorful factual asides...Utopia for Realists should make for good conversation at the next dinner party. --Benjamin Cunningham, Los Angeles Review of Books Both a fun read and a breath of fresh air to anyone who lived through the ghastly experience of last year's presidential election season . . . Utopia for Realists argues, with humor and sympathy, that we've all suffered from forgetting how to dream of a better world....What's so interesting about modern America is our hostility to the mere idea of trying to create an easier and happier life. We're a country that was once rich with social experimentation . . . Now we don't really even try, and mostly just scream at each other on the Internet. That doesn't seem like it will get us there. Maybe free money and a three-hour workday won't, either, but it sure seems like it would be more fun to try. --Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone A more politically radical Malcolm Gladwell...To the extent that bookish economic historians can rampage, Bregman is on one...He combines a detailed approach to economic policy with a utopian vision of a better future...Bregman argues that it is only by dreaming about what seems to be unachievable that society can make good things possible. --Patrick Kingsley, The New York Times

Convincing...Entertaining and reasoned...Bregman's book makes for enjoyable reading, and it is packed with colorful factual asides...Utopia for Realists should make for good conversation at the next dinner party. --Benjamin Cunningham, Los Angeles Review of Books Both a fun read and a breath of fresh air to anyone who lived through the ghastly experience of last year's presidential election season . . . Utopia for Realists argues, with humor and sympathy, that we've all suffered from forgetting how to dream of a better world....What's so interesting about modern America is our hostility to the mere idea of trying to create an easier and happier life. We're a country that was once rich with social experimentation . . . Now we don't really even try, and mostly just scream at each other on the Internet. That doesn't seem like it will get us there. Maybe free money and a three-hour workday won't, either, but it sure seems like it would be more fun to try. --Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone A more politically radical Malcolm Gladwell...To the extent that bookish economic historians can rampage, Bregman is on one...He combines a detailed approach to economic policy with a utopian vision of a better future...Bregman argues that it is only by dreaming about what seems to be unachievable that society can make good things possible. --Patrick Kingsley, The New York Times Humankind is an in-depth overview of what is wrong with the idea is that we humans are by nature bad and unreliable. In vivid descriptions and stories, Rutger Bregman takes us back to the questionable experiments that fed this idea and offers us a more optimistic view of mankind. --Frans de Waal, New York Times bestselling author of Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? and Mama's Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us About Ourselves Compelling... Humankind is an amazing book--thoughtful, engaging, optimistic, and true... It shows us how much where we start our thinking about human nature influences where we finish, even when where we start is dead wrong. Put aside your newspaper for a little while and read this book. --Barry Schwartz, author of the national bestseller The Paradox of Choice Rutger Bregman is out on his own, thinking for himself, using history to give the rest of us a chance to build a much better future than we can presently imagine. --Timothy Snyder, #1 New York Times bestselling author of On Tyranny and Bloodlands I greatly enjoyed reading Humankind, a challenging book which made me see humanity from a fresh perspective. I warmly recommend it to others, and I trust it will stir a lot of fruitful discussions. --Yuval Noah Harari, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Sapiens and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century Beautifully written, well documented, myth-busting... Bregman brings psychological research and history together to present a remarkably positive, realistic view of the human animal. We are much better, much kinder, than most of us think we are, and when we realize that we become better yet... [It's] now number one on my list of what everyone should read. Read it and buy copies for all of your most cynical friends. --Peter Gray, author of Free to Learn: Why Releasing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life This stunning book will change how you see the world and your fellow humans. Humankind is mind-expanding and, more important, heart-expanding. We have never needed its message more than now. --Johann Hari, New York Times bestselling author of Lost Connections and Chasing the Scream Rutger Bregman's new book, Humankind, has made me feel optimism in a time of pessimism. It's an exceptional read. Humans are good. --Matt Haig, author of the international bestseller Reasons to Stay Alive I know of no more powerful or carefully documented rejoinder to Machiavelli's observation that 'men never do anything good except out of necessity' than Rutger Bregman's book. His reassessment of human nature is as faithful to the actual evidence as it is uplifting. --Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, one of Discover Magazine's 50 Most Important Women in Science and author of Mothers and Others: The Evolutionary Origins of Mutual Understanding Bregman's previous work made a strong case for utopian policies like universal basic income. Humankind provides the philosophical and historical backbone to give us the confidence that such bold policies---underpinned by cooperation, not competition---are the right kinds of policies. Why? Because people are inherently good and altruistic. Understanding this fundamental point creates the spirit and the tools to collaborate, be kind, and trust each other to create a better society. The positive and uplifting message in Humankind is essential if we are ever going to create a better form of capitalism where the many, not the few, can flourish. --Mariana Mazzucato, author of The Entrepreneurial State and member of the U.N. Committee for Development Policy The topic is vital, the sweep immense, and the storytelling is spellbinding. This is a fabulous book. --Tim Harford, author of the international bestseller The Undercover Economist Some books challenge our ideas. But Humankind challenges the very premises on which those ideas are based. Its bold, sweeping argument will make you rethink what you believe about society, democracy, and human nature itself. In a sea of cynicism, this book is the sturdy, unsinkable lifeboat the world needs. --Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author of When and A Whole New Mind Rutger Bregman is one of my favorite thinkers. His latest book challenges our basic assumptions about human nature in a way that opens up a world of new possibilities. Humankind is simple, perceptive and powerful in the way that the best books and arguments are. --Andrew Yang, former US Presidential candidate and New York Times bestselling author of The War on Normal People An extraordinarily powerful declaration of faith in the innate goodness and natural decency of human beings. Never dewy-eyed, wistful or naive, Rutger Bregman makes a wholly robust and convincing case for believing---despite so much apparent evidence to the contrary---that we are not the savage, irredeemably greedy, violent and rapacious species we can be led into thinking ourselves to be. Hugely, highly and happily recommended. --Stephen Fry, author of Mythos and The Ode Less Travelled

Author Information

Rutger Bregman, a historian and writer at The Correspondent, is one of Europe's most prominent young thinkers. His last book, Utopia for Realists, which was translated into thirty-two languages, is a New York Times bestseller. He lives in Holland.

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