Adapted under the coordination of Sapienship and Albin Michel
Publishing (France) from Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
by Yuval Noah Harari.
First published in Hebrew in 2011 by Kinneret, Zmora-Bitan, Dvir.
First English language edition published in 2020 by HarperCollins
Publishers.
SAPIENS : A GRAPHIC HISTORY , THE BIRTH OF HUMANKIND (VOL . ONE ).
Copyright © 2020 by Yuval Noah Harari. All rights reserved under International and
Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have
been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of
this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded,
decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage
and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or
mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express
written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
First U.S. edition
Cover design by Harold Peiffer
Cover
illustration
by Daniel
Casanave
Creation
and co-writing:
Yuval
Noah Harari
Adaptation and co-writing: David Vandermeulen
Adaptation and illustration: Daniel Casanave
Colors: Claire Champion
Editor (Albin Michel): Martin Zeller
Sapienship Storytelling:
Sponsorship and management: Itzik Yahav
Management and editing: Naama Avital
Editing and coordination: Naama Wartenburg
Master text translation: Adriana Hunter
Diversity consulting: Slava Greenberg
www.sapienship.co
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been
To the extinct, the lost and
Everything that comes tog
be dissolved.
—YUVAL NOAH HARARI
To the extinct, the lost and the forgotten.
Everything that comes together is bound to
be dissolved.
—YUVAL NOAH HARARI
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to express my gratitude to the following people, without
whom this project would not have been possible:
To David Vandermeulen and Daniel Casanave, who first came up with the idea of th
graphic novel. Their creative genius has enabled the three of us to retell human histo
a completely fresh perspective—I could not have done it without them. Their humor
intelligence made it a truly enjoyable experience. It has been sheer fun to work toget
To Martin Zeller for editing the French text and enabling our bilingual team to work
smoothly.
To Claire Champion for coloring and adding depth to the illustrations.
To
Hunter,
whoseTriou,
translation
ofLapautre
the text from
French
English
not only
To Adriana
Anne Michel,
Lauren
Aurelie
and the
entiretoAlbin
Michel
team w
bridged
many
cultural
gaps
but
also
helped
bring
the
characters
to
life.
helped make this collaboration happen even in the midst of a global pandemic.
To Professor Robin Dunbar, whose ideas inspired my thinking for many
years, and who kindly agreed to be featured as a character.
To Sapienship’s CEO and CMO, Naama Avital and Naama Wartenburg—for their g
their dedication and their ideas, and for making a captivating story emerge out of a s
endless details—and to Daniel Taylor for ensuring that story gets printed worldwide
To the rest of the Sapienship team: Shay Abel, Michael Zur, Guangyu Chen, Hannah
Morgan,
Zivy, Jason
Galiete
Gothelf,
Erickdiversity
Marchanand
andfor
as saving
a research
To Slava Nina
Greenberg
for hisParry,
invaluable
input
on human
us fra
Katia
Zotovski, for their enthusiastic and professional work, whether in a cramped T
pitfalls.
Aviv apartment, in shiny new offices or locked down in their own homes.
To my mother, Pnina Harari, for her continued support.
To Itzik Yahav, my husband and cofounder of Sapienship, for his vision and faith,
and his ability to not only dream big but also realize big dreams.
—YUVAL NOAH HARARI
My thanks to Professor Robin Dunbar and Antoine Balzeau of the National Museum
Natural History in Paris.
—DAVID VANDERMEULEN
Thank you to my dear friends, Franck Bourgeron and Gilles Rochier.
Thank you to Christian Lerolle for his help.
ALSO BY YUVAL NOAH HARARI
me up with the idea of this
f us to retell human history from
thout them. Their humor and
n sheer fun to work together.
ur bilingual team to work together
ch toAlbin
English
not only
ntire
Michel
team who
a global pandemic.
ing for many
Wartenburg—for their guidance,
g story emerge out of a sea of
y gets printed worldwide.
, Guangyu Chen, Hannah
rchanand
andfor
as saving
a research
assistant,
rsity
us from
many
, whether in a cramped Tel
ir own homes.
for his vision and faith,
of the National Museum of
21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
LSO BY YUVAL NOAH HARARI
Lessons for the 21st Century
mo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow
iens: A Brief History of Humankind
ABOUT THE SPECIES OF THE GENUS HOMO
Many of the specific characteristics of the ancient Homo species are
still being studied and debated. This does not mean that everything
is debatable. It can be said with certainty that several species of
About the Author
YUVAL NOAH HARARI, bestselling historian and
considered one of
the world’s most influential intellectuals today. His po
sold twenty-seven
million copies and have been recommended by Barack
Evans, Janelle Monáe,
Bill Gates, and many others. Harari has a PhD in histo
University of Oxford
and now lectures at the department of history, the Heb
Jerusalem.
Sapiens has been translated into sixty languages and b
international bestseller in the
United States, United Kingdom, France, China, Korea
other countries—with
sixteen million copies sold worldwide. Harari is also t
bestsellers Homo Deus
and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century .
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at h
About the Author
UVAL NOAH HARARI, bestselling historian and philosopher, is
nsidered one of
world’s most influential intellectuals today. His popular books have
d twenty-seven
lion copies and have been recommended by Barack Obama, Chris
ans, Janelle Monáe,
l Gates, and many others. Harari has a PhD in history from the
iversity of Oxford
d now lectures at the department of history, the Hebrew University of
has been translated into sixty languages and became an
ernational bestseller in the
ited States, United Kingdom, France, China, Korea, and numerous
er countries—with
teen million copies sold worldwide. Harari is also the author of the
Homo Deus
21 Lessons for the 21st Century .
scover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
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www.harpercollins.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
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India
HarperCollins
New ZealandIndia
A Publishers
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57 Zealand
HarperCollins
Unit D1, 63Noida
Apollo Drive
Uttar
Pradesh0632
201 301
Rosedale
www.harpercollins.co.in
Auckland,
New Zealand
www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF, UK
www.harpercollins.co.uk
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
www.harpercollins.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Bay Adelaide Centre, East Tower
22 Adelaide Street West, 41st Floor
Toronto, Ontario, M5H 4E3
www.harpercollins.ca
India
HarperCollins
New ZealandIndia
A Publishers
75, Sector New
57 Zealand
HarperCollins
Unit D1, 63Noida
Apollo Drive
Uttar
Pradesh0632
201 301
Rosedale
www.harpercollins.co.in
Auckland,
New Zealand
www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF, UK
www.harpercollins.co.uk