Humankind cover art

Humankind

A Hopeful History

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Humankind

By: Rutger Bregman
Narrated by: Thomas Judd, Rutger Bregman
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £14.99

Buy Now for £14.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

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
Economics Ethics & Morality History Thought-Provoking Inspiring Heartfelt Feel-Good
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Against the Grain cover art
A Brief History of Misogyny: the World's Oldest Prejudice cover art
The Madness of Crowds cover art
The Selfish Gene cover art
The Great Awakening cover art
Cosmic Trigger II: Down to Earth cover art
Weapons of Mass Instruction cover art
On Being Unreasonable cover art
An Immigrant's Love Letter to the West cover art
The Righteous Mind cover art
The Demon-Haunted World cover art
A Paradise Built in Hell cover art
Suspicious Minds cover art
Mutual Aid cover art
Conspiracy cover art
Hope in the Dark cover art

What listeners say about Humankind

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,209
  • 4 Stars
    416
  • 3 Stars
    90
  • 2 Stars
    23
  • 1 Stars
    20
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,888
  • 4 Stars
    380
  • 3 Stars
    64
  • 2 Stars
    11
  • 1 Stars
    12
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,855
  • 4 Stars
    354
  • 3 Stars
    89
  • 2 Stars
    18
  • 1 Stars
    20

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic book

A much needed injection of realism and optimism. Excellent work and engaging storytelling. I encourage people to read this.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

enjoyed this book very much!

Positive, easy-going and well-argued book. A lot to think about, I would like to listen to it again.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

a must read

fantastic and inspiring book that should be read by everyone, especially business leaders and politicians..

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Everyone should get this book.

Everyone should get this book. Bregman is a sage of our time. This is the future we are working for.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very worthy read

As a Psychologist and Psychology teacher, I found this a very informative read. So much so I think it should be required reading for all psych undergraduates. If not to become a full supporter of the ideas in the book but to highlight the importance of being a critical consumer of research and literature. I enjoyed listening to the reader, they were easy to listen to too.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I hope you decide to read this

This book was excellent and restored my faith in human nature. Should be mandatory reading

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Hope for humanity

The last few months, I've avoided most news. It has done wonders for my mental health! This book explained why.
It gives concrete examples of how our perception of human kind isnjuat plain wrong. At least, what MY perception was, which was not positive...
The last year nor so, I've read several books which brings up this phenomenon. The only thing that makes me wonder whether they're right, is that they all use many of the same examples. That also means there's a lot in this book I already knew. However, there's also much I didn't know, and things I haven't really thought much about.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Essential

I can’t rate the book highly enough. It is a beautiful and humane look in the mirror. Too often books are called ‘life-changing’, this one is.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The most valuable book of our times.

If we can’t have a basic income then we should consider having a universal basic book. This is it.
It is as a-political as a smile and as valuable as a hug.
The research rivals Yuval Noah Harari’s best.
The arguments are tight and revelatory.
My faith in humanity is well and truly restored.
I can highly recommend to people of all stripes and spots.
Well done Sir.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Kind Humanity

A truly refreshing view of the evolution of humanity that weighs in favour of our innate capacity for kindness, friendliness and cooperation. The start of a better way to eduacte ourselves for a hopefull future.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!