{"product_id":"humankind-a-hopeful-history-9781408898956","title":"Humankind: A Hopeful History – from the presenter of the 2025 BBC ‘Moral Revolution’ Reith lectures","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe major new book from Dutch historian and internationally bestselling author Rutger Bregman\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTHE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER – FROM THE 2025 BBC\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e REITH LECTURER\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eDaily Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eNew Statesman \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eDaily Express \u003c\/i\u003eBook of the Year\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e‘Hugely, highly and happily recommended’ \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eStephen Fry\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e‘You should read \u003ci\u003eHumankind\u003c\/i\u003e. You’ll learn a lot (I did) and you’ll have good reason to feel better about the human race’ \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eTim Harford\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Made me see humanity from a fresh perspective' \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eYuval Noah Harari\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt’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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eHumankind \u003c\/i\u003emakes a new argument: that it is realistic, as well as revolutionary, to assume that people are good. By thinking the worst of others, we bring out the worst in our politics and economics too.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn 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 \u003ci\u003eLord of the Flies \u003c\/i\u003eto 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt is time for a new view of human nature.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAs the 2025 BBC Reith Lecturer, Rutger Bregman will present ‘Moral Revolution’, a four part series:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-A Time of Monsters\u003cbr\u003e-How To Start a Moral Revolution\u003cbr\u003e-A Realist’s Utopia\u003cbr\u003e-Zoom Out\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAvailable to listen on BBC Four\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch4\u003eDetails\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003eISBN13: 9781408898956\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFormat: Paperback \/ softback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNumber of Pages: 496\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEdition: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication Date: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication City, Country: London, United Kingdom\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDimensions (cm): 20.8(H)x12.8(L)x3(W)396\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWeight (gm): 396\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch4\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003eRutger Bregman, a historian and writer at the \u003ci\u003eCorrespondent\u003c\/i\u003e, is one of Europe’s most prominent young thinkers. His last book, \u003ci\u003eUtopia for Realists\u003c\/i\u003e, was a \u003ci\u003eSunday Times \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestseller and has been translated into thirty-two languages. He lives in Holland.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e@rcbregman | rutgerbregman.com\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch4\u003eReviews\u003c\/h4\u003eAn 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 * Sunday Times *\u003cbr\u003eThis is the book we need right now . . . Entertaining, uplifting . . . If Bregman is right, this book might just make the world a kinder place * Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003eHere, we visit the blitz, \u003ci\u003eLord of the Flies \u003c\/i\u003e– 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 * Observer *\u003cbr\u003eFilled with compelling tales of human goodness . . . Bregman’s book is a thrilling read and it represents a necessary correction * The Times *\u003cbr\u003eHumankind displays [Bregman's] gift for synthesising libraries full of academic research into spellbinding reads. I whizzed through Humankind’s 480 pages, engrossed * Financial Times *\u003cbr\u003eThe notion that we already have the capacity to radically improve the world is both an exhilarating and a daunting one * New Statesman *\u003cbr\u003eBregman argues convincingly that what we teach and report about ourselves, we become . . . Bold, entertaining and uplifting * Spectator *\u003cbr\u003eBregman’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 * Scotsman *\u003cbr\u003eLively 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 * Irish Times *\u003cbr\u003eThis 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\u003cbr\u003eOne 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\u003cbr\u003eRutger Bregman’s extraordinary new book is a revelation . . . \u003ci\u003eHumankind\u003c\/i\u003e is masterful in its grasp of history, both ancient and modern -- Susan Cain, author of 'Quiet'\u003cbr\u003eCynicism 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'\u003cbr\u003eThis 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\u003cbr\u003eRutger 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, Holocaust historian and author of 'On Tyranny'\u003cbr\u003eA devastating demolition of the misanthrope’s mantra. A beacon of hope for a frighted world -- Professor Danny Dorling, author of 'Inequality and the 1%'","brand":"Rutger Bregman","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46609257627865,"sku":"9781408898956","price":24.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0502\/9530\/8441\/files\/9781408898956.jpg?v=1746707578","url":"https:\/\/www.arielbooks.com.au\/products\/humankind-a-hopeful-history-9781408898956","provider":"Ariel","version":"1.0","type":"link"}