The Invention of Yesterday

A 50,000-Year History of Human Culture, Conflict, and Connection

By: Tamim Ansary

Narrated by: Tamim Ansary

Through vivid stories studded with insights, award-winning author Tamim Ansary tells the story of how humans invented history, from the Stone Age to the Virtual Age.

Fifty thousand years ago, we roamed the world as countless autonomous bands of hunter-gatherers, each one telling itself a story of the world with itself at the center. We used narratives to organize for survival and explain the unfathomable, and these stories evolved into the bases for cultures, empires, and civilizations. When disparate narratives collided, the encounters produced everything from confusion, chaos, and war to cultural efflorescence, religious awakenings, and intellectual breakthroughs.

Traveling across millennia and cultures, The Invention of Yesterday illuminates our propensity to invent a shared symbolic universe, and argues that world history is a narrative we’re constantly inventing.

“A well-written and valuable take on the diverse narratives that have shaped human history.” ―Kirkus Reviews

“Chatty, breezy, and capacious.” ―Publishers Weekly

“Terrific.” ―San Francisco Chronicle

Critic reviews

"Ansary offers a remarkable big-picture synthesis that draws upon geography but resists determinism, and celebrates diversity while embracing humanity's commonalities."—Booklist

"In his terrific new book, Tamim Ansary explores the underappreciated ways that empires, nations and smaller sets of people have responded to their surroundings, influenced one another and developed stories that give their lives meaning."—San Francisco Chronicle

"A beautifully written world history focused on the stories different civilizations have told about who we are. It ends with a fundamental question: In today's extraordinary world, can we build new narratives that are inclusive and global enough to encourage worldwide cooperation in the task of building a better future for humanity?"—David Christian, distinguished professor, MacquarieUniversity, Sydney, Australia, and author of Maps of Time: An Introductionto Big History and Origin Story: A Big History of Everything

"Tamim Ansary has done it again, writing an expansive, wonderfully readable account of our present world. With deft examples drawn from across history, he skewers the idea that there's anything pure about culture or race. Ideas have blended and meshed across space and time to make the modern world what it is. Ansary is a charming guide to this blesh of civilizations, and to the world's permanent-and hopeful-capacity for change."—Raj Patel, author of Stuffedand Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System

"Brimming with essential insights and yet always approachable, this is the global history we need now."—Lynn Hunt, author of WritingHistory in the Global Era

"Weaving together multiple complex strands of the human experience into a single compelling storyline, Ansary delivers-in his usual down-to-earth yet erudite style-an engaging global 'narrative of narratives' informed by decades of critical study, reflection, and personal transcultural experience. A deeply enriching, highly relevant read from an important, unique voice of our day."—R. Charles Weller,Central Eurasian and Islamic world history, Washington State and KazakhNational University

"The Invention of Yesterday is an insightful guide into human civilization packed with information that shows how we have been connected globally since the beginning of history. Tamim Ansary unpacks complicated theories to make sense of how we became who we are today."—Fariba Nawa, authorof Opium Nation: Child Brides, Drug Lords and One Woman's Journey throughAfghanistan

Good Solid General History

And a lot of it. This book was also refreshing for me, allowing me to spend time with reality after having suffered through a few books that were steady streams of BS (motivational books making false claims). So my suggestion is, to fully appreciate this book, torture yourself with a motivational book or two first...

Very well done.

This was an excellent brief overview of human history, focused on the inter-relationships between cultures, civilizations, and time.

Great for fans of Dawkins or Harari

What can I say… I thoroughly enjoyed the authors overview of human history. His narration was clear and inflection was lovely.

A New Perspective

I enjoyed the authors point of view. He puts history in a new perspective. Plan on listening a second time.

Excellent and incredibly approachable project

I thoroughly enjoyed this and have already listened to many parts a second time. I think that if you are coming to it with a desire to understand what it means to shape a story of our history it is especially rewarding. The reading is very even and i was able to stay totally engaged without feeling like it lost intonation or became I engaging.

I heard an interview with the author that really convinced me of the importance and necessity of try to tell a story for this moment of our past that empowers us to think at the scale of the global - but with an understanding of our deep common history. I love that he did it with true grace and am very inspired.

Highly recommend for those who feel intimidated by history - I feel like this gives me a handle on so much by telling even the history I knew from a different point of view that will empower my curiosity moving forward towards so much that I both was familiar with or had never heard.

I am very grateful to the author for caring so much for our common history, and his peaceful and humanitarian desire truly touched me through this reading.