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  • Humans: A Brief History of How We F*cked It All Up

  • Written by: Tom Phillips
  • Narrated by: Nish Kumar
  • Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (91 ratings)

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Humans: A Brief History of How We F*cked It All Up cover art

Humans: A Brief History of How We F*cked It All Up

Written by: Tom Phillips
Narrated by: Nish Kumar
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Publisher's Summary

Modern humans have come a long way in the 70,000 years they’ve walked the earth. Art, science, culture, trade - on the evolutionary food chain, we’re true winners. But it hasn’t always been smooth sailing, and sometimes - just occasionally - we’ve managed to truly f--k things up.

Weaving together history, science, politics, and pop culture, Humans offers a panoramic exploration of humankind in all its glory, or lack thereof. From Lucy, our first ancestor, who fell out of a tree and died, to General Zhou Shou of China, who stored gunpowder in his palace before a lantern festival, to the Austrian army attacking itself one drunken night, to the most spectacular fails of the present day, Humans reveals how even the most mundane mistakes can shift the course of civilization as we know it.

Lively, wry, and brimming with brilliant insight, this unique compendium offers a fresh take on world history and is one of the most entertaining listens of the year.

©2019 Tom Phillips (P)2019 Harlequin Enterprises, Limited

What listeners say about Humans: A Brief History of How We F*cked It All Up

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

This book makes education cool....

Engaging, interesting and humourous.
I was submerged in the story the whole time.
It's a must read.
Brilliant!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinating and entertaining

We really are our own worst enemies! I’m not sure I hold out much hope that we will learn from our mistakes.
Great narration.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinating, brilliant, depressing and scary

It's a wonder we've made it this far. And makes you wonder how much further.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Couldn't stop listening and laughing!

History repeats itself, and it looks like it will again.
They say, if you continue to do the same thing over and over again expecting different results...well you know the rest, or do we?😸😹😹

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

the research was excellent

the audible book helps uplift the reading experience since its research on research. The epilogue was the amazing. Overall, it is an great read if you want to learn about the world.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Funny and entertaining.

Dragged on in places, but overall, was quite funny and enlightening. You picked the perfect narrator.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Informative, humorous

The book was informative and humorous at times. Makes you think. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to learn about our weird history and have more insight about our dumbasses. 8.5/10

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Irritating book

I expected this book would provide a thoughtful analysis of mistakes made by humans and how we can improve decision making and history. Instead it was just a silly compilation of many obscure figures of history who did laughably bad things. I learned nothing. And the author tried too hard to be cute and funny with writing style and with unnecessary and irritating profanity.

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1 person found this helpful