A Story of Us

Reviews / Votes

Encapsulating seven million years of human history can be challenging; however, the authors have done a brilliant job of extrapolating key themes and explaining them in a consumable format. An additional strength of this book is the acknowledgment of females and children in the evolutionary journey. In closing, this book is a great read for people of all levels of background in evolutionary science, who want to learn more about the recent findings in this field. * Yvanna Todorova, Evolutionary Anthropology * This is a splendid book ... Sometimes a book really works and this is one such case. * Michael Ruse, Quarterly Review of Biology * ... a smart and engaging book by two seasoned thinkers and scientific writers... The stories embedded in each chapter by Newson and Richerson are ingenious, appealing, and reflect the solid scholarly material presented simply and directly before and after any given story. All the pieces fit together nicely... enjoyably readable and profoundly informative about the power of cultural evolution. * leonardo.info * A Story of Us provides a thoroughly modern and refreshingly gender-balanced analysis of human evolution. Accurate and authoritative, with superb illustrations, and innovative use of storytelling to bring the science to life, Lesley Newson and Peter Richerson have produced an exceptional book. Readers are not only given an up-to-date precis of human evolution, but also treated to an expert analysis of the role of culture as a driver of evolutionary adaptation and a much-needed critique of 'human nature.' * Kevin Laland, author of Darwin's Unfinished Symphony: How Culture Made the Human Mind * Jargon-free books about human origins are rare as hens' teeth. A Story of Us-an easily readable 'new look' by biologists Lesley Newson and Peter Richerson-is hence extremely welcome. It displays an expert command of recent developments in fields ranging from anatomy and behavior through fossils to genetics, providing an engaging account of our evolution over the past 7 million years. The focus on social behavior and cooperation offsets past over-emphasis on competitiveness and aggression. It's also refreshing to see proper inclusion of women and youngsters, typically pale background figures in previous accounts. * Robert D. Martin, Emeritus Curator of Biological Anthropology, The Field Museum in Chicago and Academic Guest, Institute for Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zuerich * A Story of Us hits all the right notes in imagining what life was like at seven major stopping-points of the human journey from our ape ancestors. Original, colorful and well-informed, Newson and Richerson's time machine is a beautifully conceived introduction to the evolutionary science of us. * Richard Wrangham, Ruth B. Moore Professor of Biological Anthropology, Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University * In this highly original approach to telling the seven-million-year human story, Newson and Richerson bring our ancient ancestors back to life, showing us that the key to being human is not just having a larger brain: it is having highly interconnected minds that generate and share cultural adaptations. No Homo sapiens is an island. I loved reading this book, because it really is the 'story of us.' * Jonathan Haidt, Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership, New York University-Stern School of Business and author of The Righteous Mind * With plainspoken erudition, Lesley Newson and Peter Richerson integrate narrative accounts and lucid descriptions to deftly guide the reader from the dawn of humanity, through dense thickets of scientific research, to the origins of agriculture, and into the modern age. A Story of Us provides a rich and accessible account of how humans evolved and why we are so different from other species. * Joseph Henrich, Professor and Chair of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University and author of The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous * A Story of Us is, without a doubt, the best current account of the evolutionary history of our species. The Newson-Richerson team skillfully blends engaging narrative with solid scientific review of recent exciting advances that illuminate the human origins. * Peter Turchin, Project Leader of Social Complexity and Collapse at the Complexity Science Hub Vienna and author of Ultrasociety: How 10,000 Years of War Made Humans the Greatest Cooperators on Earth *