The Handshake
A Gripping History
Published on 25. March 2021
Book
Hardback
176 pages
978-1-78816-780-2 (ISBN)
Description
A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR
'It's a little book of wonder, it's fantastic' Chris Evans
'A fabulously sparky, wide-ranging and horizon-broadening little study ... joyously unboring' Sunday Times
Friends do it, strangers do it and so do chimpanzees - and it's not just deeply embedded in our history and culture, it may even be written in our DNA. The humble handshake, it turns out, has a rich and surprising history.
So let's join palaeoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi as she embarks on a funny and fascinating voyage of discovery - from the handshake's origins (at least seven million years ago) all the way to its sudden disappearance in March 2020. Drawing on new research, anthropological insights and first-hand experience, she'll reveal how this most friendly of gestures has played a role in everything from meetings with uncontacted tribes to political assassinations - and what it tells us about the enduring power of human contact.
Because the story of the handshake ... is far from over.
'It's a little book of wonder, it's fantastic' Chris Evans
'A fabulously sparky, wide-ranging and horizon-broadening little study ... joyously unboring' Sunday Times
Friends do it, strangers do it and so do chimpanzees - and it's not just deeply embedded in our history and culture, it may even be written in our DNA. The humble handshake, it turns out, has a rich and surprising history.
So let's join palaeoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi as she embarks on a funny and fascinating voyage of discovery - from the handshake's origins (at least seven million years ago) all the way to its sudden disappearance in March 2020. Drawing on new research, anthropological insights and first-hand experience, she'll reveal how this most friendly of gestures has played a role in everything from meetings with uncontacted tribes to political assassinations - and what it tells us about the enduring power of human contact.
Because the story of the handshake ... is far from over.
Reviews / Votes
Al-Shamahi's beguiling book has a more general claim to attention than merely being an account of the crisis in manners that Covid has made ... cheerful, witty and well-researched. -- Stephen Bayley * Spectator * It's a little book of wonder, it's fantastic -- Chris Evans A fabulously sparky, wide-ranging and horizon-broadening little study ... joyously unboring * Sunday Times * Having not particularly missed shaking hands over the past year, I ended this very engaging little book so desperate to get started again that I'm in danger of becoming a super-spreader. * Telegraph * [Ella Al-Shamahi] makes a convincing argument that in the not-so-distant future we will once again be clasping the clammy, germ-ridden paws of near-strangers. I can't wait. * Daily Mail * Brisk, quirky and good-humoured * The Business Post *More details
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Trade binding
Dimensions
Height: 202 mm
Width: 132 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
250 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78816-780-2 (9781788167802)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
03/2021
Profile Books Ltd
€11.49
Available for download
Person
Ella Al-Shamahi is a National Geographic Explorer, palaeoanthropologist, evolutionary biologist and stand-up comic. Specialising in in Neanderthals, caves and expeditions in hostile, disputed and unstable territories, she is also a TV presenter, a TED speaker and has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She has degrees in Genetics, Taxonomy and Biodiversity, and is currently undertaking her PhD in Palaeoanthropology.