The Book of Humans: A Brief History of Culture, Sex, War, and the Evolution of Us: How Homo sapiens Became Nature’s Most Paradoxical Creature―A New Evolutionary History

The author of A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived investigates what it means to be human—and the ways we are (and aren’t) unique among animals We like to think of ourselves as exceptional beings, but are we really more special than other animals? In this original and entertaining tour of life on Earth, Adam Rutherford explores how many of the things once considered to be exclusively human are not: We are not the only species that communicates, makes tools, uses fire, or has sex for reasons other than procreation. Evolution has, however, allowed us to develop a culture far more complex than any other observed in nature. The Book of Humans explains how we became the creatures we are today, uniquely able to investigate ourselves. Illuminating the latest genetic research, it is a thrilling account of what unequivocally fixes us as animals—and what makes us truly extraordinary.