Books like Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
12 books with a reading profile close to Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. Deep and outward-looking; a moderate read.
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1
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
by David Grann
Also outward-looking · history, analytical
During the 1920s, the Osage Nation in Oklahoma became the wealthiest people per capita in the world after oil was discovered beneath their reservation.
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2
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland
history, analytical
Patrick Radden Keefe reconstructs the 1972 abduction and murder of Jean McConville, a widowed mother of ten taken from her Belfast home by the Irish Republican Army.
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3
How Music Works
by David Byrne
Also outward-looking · history, analytical
David Byrne argues that musical composition is driven by external constraints rather than pure internal inspiration.
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4
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
by Erik Larson
Also outward-looking · history, analytical
Erik Larson weaves together the true accounts of two men who shaped Chicago during the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition.
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5
Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith
by Jon Krakauer
Also outward-looking · history, analytical
Jon Krakauer examines the 1984 murders of Brenda Lafferty and her infant daughter, committed by her brothers-in-law, Ron and Dan Lafferty.
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6
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
Also outward-looking · history, analytical
Michael Pollan investigates the origins of the human diet by tracing four distinct food chains: industrial corn, organic agribusiness, local pastoralism, and personal foraging.
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7
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
Also outward-looking · history, analytical
Charles C.
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8
EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS
by John Green
Also outward-looking · history, analytical
John Green tracks the history and persistence of tuberculosis, a bacterial infection that has killed more humans than any other pathogen.
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9
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
Also deep and outward-looking · history, analytical
Elizabeth Kolbert explains that Earth is currently undergoing a sixth mass extinction event, differing from the previous five because it is caused by human activity rather than natural disasters.
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10
The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women
by Kate Moore
history, analytical
Kate Moore details the lives of factory workers in the early twentieth century who painted watch dials with glow-in-the-dark radium paint.
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11
BIOLOGICAL WAR
Also outward-looking · history, analytical
The author of “Nuclear War” describes potential outcomes of biological warfare, including mass death and societal breakdown.
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12
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal
Also outward-looking · history, analytical
Eric Schlosser tracks the evolution of the American fast food industry from its roots as localized drive-ins to a global economic force.
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