The Dawn of Everything

A New History of Humanity

De: David Graeber, David Wengrow

Narrado por: Mark Williams

"An all-encompassing treatise on modern civilization, offering bold revisions to canonical understandings in sociology, anthropology, archaeology and political philosophy that led to where we are today."—The New York Times

A dramatically new understanding of human history, challenging our most fundamental assumptions about social evolution—from the development of agriculture and cities to the origins of the state, democracy, and inequality—and revealing new possibilities for human emancipation.

For generations, our remote ancestors have been cast as primitive and childlike—either free and equal innocents, or thuggish and warlike. Civilization, we are told, could be achieved only by sacrificing those original freedoms or, alternatively, by taming our baser instincts. David Graeber and David Wengrow show how such theories first emerged in the eighteenth century as a conservative reaction to powerful critiques of European society posed by Indigenous observers and intellectuals. Revisiting this encounter has startling implications for how we make sense of human history today, including the origins of farming, property, cities, democracy, slavery, and civilization itself.

Drawing on pathbreaking research in archaeology and anthropology, the authors show how history becomes a far more interesting place once we learn to throw off our conceptual shackles and perceive what’s really there. If humans did not spend 95 percent of their evolutionary past in tiny bands of hunter-gatherers, what were they doing all that time? If agriculture, and cities, did not mean a plunge into hierarchy and domination, then what kinds of social and economic organization did they lead to? The answers are often unexpected, and suggest that the course of human history may be less set in stone, and more full of playful, hopeful possibilities, than we tend to assume.

The Dawn of Everything fundamentally transforms our understanding of the human past and offers a path toward imagining new forms of freedom, new ways of organizing society. This is a monumental book of formidable intellectual range, animated by curiosity, moral vision, and a faith in the power of direct action.

A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux

©2021 David Graeber and David Wengrow (P)2021 Macmillan Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

Short-listed, Orwell Prize, 2022

Long-listed, Barnes and Noble Best New Books of the Year, 2021

Long-listed, NPR Best Book of the Year, 2021

Long-listed, Amazon.com Best Books of the Year, 2021

exactly what I've been looking for

Great book, reader is solid. not sure what the other reviewer's problem was. the reader is British, but has clear English and a varied jovial reading voice. Almost every other book he has narrated has near 5 starts. Just wanted to get in early and let potential listeners that the coast is all clear and it is not a waste of a credit.

The information is golden. I also like the writing style of the authors. Lots of light humor and a bit of sarcasm. Well laid out theories.

amazing rebuttal of Enlightenment Now

the book itself can be summarized as "things are more difficult and complex, as we first think."

it's an excellent rebuttal of the over simplified ideas of non historians writing about history
Looking at Steven Pinker, Harari etc.
Pinker should read this book. he could learn sth.

Meandering Masterpiece

You dont pick this book up unless youre already interested in the topic of why we are what/how we are, and the authors do not disappoint. In a wide ranging exploration of what we think we know about current and ancient non-agribased communities ( even the authors arent sure what to call them), a compelling argument is made that our current domination systems might not be historically inevitable, or as tightly connected to the birth of the “agricultural revolution” as we have all been taught. It’s long, and wanders all over the place, but its fun and irreverent and a great addition to the genre.

Required reading for EVERYONE

It’s no wonder I’ve had so many questions about the fact I’ve been taught that all roads historically and worldwide lead to a government standard with one leader as the best outcome. So if it’s crowded how do we proceed?

Fascinating, provocative, important

A powerful work of scholarship, sure to be controversial, with the potential to be revolutionary. An enlightening read that left this reader feeling better educated but more confused now that several key pillars of my western world view have been so eloquently assaulted. For example, the idea that evolving civilization and increasing social complexity must always come at the expense of human freedom is thoroughly disproven by recent discoveries, which may offer hope for new ways to navigate our way out of the morass of tyrannical nation-states our world finds itself in today. Only time and more science will tell if the authors' theories about what this data means are correct, but whatever judgements history or hindsight ultimately render about these ideas, this book is an example of science and scholarship at its best. 5 Stars!

A must

The last sentence could be the topic paragraph of a 5 page essay on the bias of history and a reason to hope. This book is an affirmation of what most humans under the age of 30 know. Older folks are wrong and we need to share and stop living at the expense of others.

It’s a slog but worth it.

A grand historical narrative challenging the idea of grand historical narratives

For an idealist who believes in things like democracy, peace, alternative modes of human relationships, etc., it’s easy to feel a deep sense of internal conflict by a sense that here are pragmatic ways to navigate the world, pragmatism based on the “way things are.” The authors challenge the ideas of inevitable human progression or teleological historical narrative by demonstrating that throughout human history, humans have lived in myriad ways inconsistent with that narrative. These anthropological examples show urban societies which were not built on agriculture or controlling bureaucracy. We also see human societies which achieve scale while maintaining the three freedoms: movement, disobedience, and formation of social relationships. History also does not progress linearly, but rather societies may exist with hierarchy for centuries only to reject hierarchy in favor of democratic forms of self governance or vice versa. This questioning of the grand historical narrative that shows inexorable progression of from bands of hunter gatherers to the sovereign state, allows us to at least question what it means to be pragmatic or idealistic. If human scale existed without coercive forms of governance such as sovereignty, bureaucracy, or charismatic politics, might it exist again in our time without such structures?

Excellent content

This is a rewriting of human history and should be read by anyone interested in the topic in my humble opin.

Relevant, Fascinating, Insightful, Valuable

This book presents a serious challenge to our daily assumptions, our understanding of history and way of life. It was also well done and kept my interest easily. This book was fascinating. I'm fairly well-versed in world history and this book revealed massive gaps in my knowledge. There is a rich history in the Americas that most of us have missed entirely. Check this out and the other works of David Graeber.

One of the most important books I ever read

Graebers final work before his untimely death. One of the best books I’ve ever read. Key for anyone who wants to understand the idea or misunderstandings of human nature.