Initially published in Israel in 2011, Sapiens became the fastest international bestseller, being translated into over forty languages. 100,000 years ago, there were at least six species of people on the earth. Today there is one: we, Homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And how did we get to be the masters of the planet? From the beginnings of our species and the role it played in the global ecosystem to modernity, Sapiens combines history and science to discuss everything we know about ourselves, show us how we have joined together to build cities, kingdoms, and empires , how we came to believe in gods, laws, and books, but also how we became the slaves of bureaucracy, consumerism, and happiness. It also urges us to look in the future, because for several decades we have begun to violate the laws of natural selection that have governed life for the last four billion years. We acquire the ability to shape not only the world around us, but ourselves. Where does it take us and what do we want to become? "Interesting and provocative ... It helps us to understand how little time we are on this earth, how little time there are things like agriculture or science and why it is good not to take them as something on its own." (Barack Obama) "Sapiens addresses the biggest problems of history and the modern world, written in a lively language." (Jared Diamond.