Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime and start saving today with fast, free delivery

Kindle
$10.99

Available instantly

Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial

Paperback
$14.95

Audio CD
$27.29

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns

FREE delivery on orders over $35 shipped by Amazon.

Select delivery location

Temporarily out of stock.
Order now and we'll deliver when available. Details

Want it faster? The Kindle eBook is available now and can be read on any device with the free Kindle app. Want to listen? Try Audible.

$$14.95 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Ships from

Amazon.com

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.

Read full return policy

Payment

Secure transaction

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Details

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

FREE delivery May 1 - 8. Details

Or fastest delivery Tuesday, April 30. Details

Select delivery location

Used: Good | Details

Sold by gatecitybooks

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Other sellers on Amazon

New & Used (12) from $9.23 & FREE Shipping

Image Unavailable

Image not available for
Color:

To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the author

Silvana Condemi

Follow

A Pocket History of Human Evolution: How We Became Sapiens Paperback – November 1, 2019

by Silvana Condemi (Author), François Savatier (Author)

4.5 333 ratings

See all formats and editions

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$14.95","priceAmount":14.95,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"14","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"95","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"CHIDZCqSpE1Rvc%2B2AwubO5BPfO%2BC1KzoQMWRCgdFm4dCrLEXcfBGrjFNT1ZPDYGUoVmKPEjObvN7dIvj8yMAINOtp26uQJxqHB4O4dFTpMhG%2Ft2caUGhdrSAgPM8if1GwaLagOBjyzK8YSfSQ8qwpQ%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$9.23","priceAmount":9.23,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"9","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"23","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"CHIDZCqSpE1Rvc%2B2AwubO5BPfO%2BC1KzoFIrSHhq3%2Bv%2F5WEjqdSQKDPExPGjUSB68Pp9Co3jQMp1rjQxUc%2BT%2FI6Ok56u%2FIEVgCDiTC4iMTU5Zt6b%2BMPkc%2FFI1mMAiSBEJWwiGu1xOJD2xkOZQF2URNnEtUQ4AheC2gdHi3MbYxN%2FQ5hFTt7Pvapb8u4eLNTBX","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

Why aren’t we more like other apes? How did we win the evolutionary race? Find out how “wise” Homo sapiens really are.

Prehistory has never been more exciting: New discoveries are overturning long-held theories left and right. Stone tools in Australia date back 65,000 years―a time when, we once thought, the first Sapiens had barely left Africa. DNA sequencing has unearthed a new hominid group―the Denisovans―and confirmed that crossbreeding with them (and Neanderthals) made Homo sapiens who we are today.

A Pocket History of Human Evolution brings us up-to-date on the exploits of all our ancient relatives. Paleoanthropologist Silvana Condemi and science journalist François Savatier consider what accelerated our evolution: Was it tools, our “large” brains, language, empathy, or something else entirely? And why are we the sole survivors among many early bipedal humans? Their conclusions reveal the various ways ancient humans live on today―from gossip as modern “grooming” to our gendered division of labor―and what the future might hold for our strange and unique species. 18 two-color illustrations

Print length

160 pages
Language

English
Publisher

The Experiment
Publication date

November 1, 2019
Dimensions

4.8 x 0.5 x 7.4 inches
ISBN-10

1615196048
ISBN-13

978-1615196043
See all details

Frequently bought together

A Pocket History of Human Evolution: How We Became Sapiens

$14.95

Temporarily out of stock.

Order now and we'll deliver when available. We'll e-mail you with an estimated delivery date as soon as we have more information. Your account will only be charged when we ship the item.

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

+

$17.99

Get it as soon as Monday, Apr 29

In Stock

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

+

Understanding Human Evolution (Understanding Life)

$12.00

Get it as soon as Monday, Apr 29

In Stock

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

Total price:

To see our price, add these items to your cart.

Try again!

Details

Added to Cart

Some of these items ship sooner than the others.

Show details Hide details

Choose items to buy together.

Yuval Noah Harari
138,505
Paperback
205 offers from $4.31
Ian Tattersall
104
Paperback
28 offers from $11.74
Dr. Alice Roberts
1,004
Hardcover
61 offers from $6.14
Ludovic Slimak
98
Hardcover
47 offers from $18.59
Dimitra Papagianni
66
Paperback
39 offers from $5.62
Dr. Deena Emera
44
Paperback
53 offers from $5.15

From the Publisher

"The human race is a strange animal. Our ancestors first lived in trees, then came down to explore the ground. Then they became bipeds and eventually explored the world—from there, the possibilities were endless. This changing behavior is one of the greatest enigmas there is, but we are in the process of unraveling it, with the help of amazing recent advancements in prehistoric sciences. In this book, we will explain this enigmatic evolutionary saga. This is the history of a cultural animal: you."

—From the Introduction

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In the style of Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Astrophysics for People in a Hurry (2017), this slim volume is full of scientific wonders. . . . Readers will find themselves marveling at the incredible journey we have taken to become the preeminent life-form on our planet."
― Booklist

"Keeping up with the flood of new information about our human origins is hard enough. So it is a minor miracle that Silvana Condemi and François Savatier have been able to summarize it all so elegantly and authoritatively in this short but highly readable book."
― Ian Tattersall, coauthor of The Accidental Homo Sapiens

"This book will capture the attention of all readers interested in learning more about the deep history of our species. It is up-to-date and accurate―and well-written for the layperson―by a research-active scholar and a science journalist."
― Eric Delson, professor of anthropology at Lehman College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York; and director of the New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology

About the Author

Silvana Condemi, a paleoanthropologist, is the research director of the National Center for Scientific Research, the largest public scientific research organization in France, at Aix-Marseille University.

François Savatier is a journalist for the magazine Pour la Science (the French edition of Scientific American), where he focuses on the science of the past.

Their previous book is the award-winning Neanderthal, My Brother.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ The Experiment (November 1, 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 160 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1615196048
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1615196043
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.8 x 0.5 x 7.4 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #160,285 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #27 in Prehistory
- #29 in Physical Anthropology (Books)
- #166 in Archaeology (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.5 333 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Silvana Condemi

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5

333 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

Translate all reviews to English

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Andrew Wyllie

A Quick Walk Through Human Evolution

Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2021

Verified Purchase

This is a good introduction to how our ancestors became us. It is a small book so it does not go into great detail on the points it makes, but allows each point to build on the previous ones so it is not presenting too much at once. Each chapter represents a step along the road taken by our ancestors that distinguished them from other primates. As each step was taken, the differences between the primates becomes greater.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in human evolution and wants a good starting point. This book is very current and has all of the most recent discoveries (up to 2019) to illustrate the various stages of our evolution.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Kim Horner McCoy

Good Place to Start

Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2021

Verified Purchase

This Pocket History makes a great introduction (or review, depending on your reading habits) to the paleontological / biological aspects of human evolution, but beware when the authors begin addressing cultural questions--they seem weirdly attached to the idea of gender-based division of labor and make some rather absolutist claims that seem epistemologically suspect. That said, I'll still look up their book about Neanderthals (if there's an English translation). The Kindle edition contains a number of typos.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Spencer Gilmer

Clear and concise.

Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2023

Verified Purchase

Loved it, very readable.

Helpful

Sean C

Well written, well presented. Clear graphics.

Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2021

Verified Purchase

This book is written for the lay person like me - easy to follow and as far as I can see factually correct. One of the wonderful things about this book in the Kindle version, is that the graphics are awesome. They are crisp and clear even when zoomed in on on my age old iPad M3. I hope that all illustrated Kindle books get at least this good.

Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2021

Verified Purchase

Revisando la historia del mundo y de nuestra especie en particular, se aprende mucho, y nos damos cuenta de la vertiginosa y peligrosa evolucion en la que nos encontramos en los últimos años.
Ojalá esta historia fuera lectura obligatoria en nuestras escuelas.
Gracias a los autores. Muy interesante

Helpful

Translate review to English

GMC

Human history the story of how we grew into our potential

Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2021

Verified Purchase

The book contains illistrations , maps showing when and where fossils have been found and the age of the fossils. The structural differences between the various types of people and animals that roamed the continent of Africa, and later the migratory routes out of Africa.

Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2022

Verified Purchase

An excellent and concise book for the amateur anthropologist. It poses many questions for further study, with a superb bibliography

Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2023

Verified Purchase

I liked the book. I find the concept of hoards interesting. I'd be curious to read the references used for that naming convention. I have never come across so much talk about endemic warfare in my readings. I wonder what influenced that concept.

Helpful