Oded Galor

Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

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The Journey of Humanity

It's here! Browse the 2024 Penguin Christmas gift guide

A wildly ambitious attempt to do for economics what Newton, Darwin or Einstein did for their fields: develop a theory that explains almost everything ... an inspiring, readable, jargon-free and almost impossibly erudite masterwork, the boldest possible attempt to write the economic history of humanity

There will be inevitable comparisons with Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens ... If you need an evidence-based antidote to doomscrolling, here it is

Journey of Humanity... is only 300 pages long, which considering it covers thousands of years of global history... is surprisingly concise. Its breadth and ambition are reminiscent of Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel...and Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens

A large-scale survey of human history... The heart of the matter is why some countries grow and some don't... Perhaps growth-mad Liz Truss should have read it. You certainly should.

The Times, Best philosophy and ideas books of 2022

Unparalleled in its scope and ambition ... All readers will learn something, and many will find the book fascinating

A completely brilliant and utterly original account of humanity's transit from crude beginnings to a deeply divided planet. A vastly readable insight into why our world is as it is. A book for our epoch

Jon Snow, former presenter of Channel 4 News

A masterful sweep through the human odyssey, from the origin of our species to the making of the modern world, that answers the ultimate mystery: what accounts for the staggering inequality in the wealth of nations today? Exquisite, eloquent and effortlessly erudite - if you liked Sapiens, you'll love this

Astounding in scope and insight, The Journey of Humanity provides a captivating and revelatory account of the deepest currents that have shaped human history, and the keys to the betterment of our species

Nouriel Roubini, author of Crisis Economics

I am in awe of Oded Galor's attempts to explain inequality today as a consequence of such profound forces. A remarkable contribution to our understanding of this mammoth dilemma

A wonderfully clear-sighted perspective on progress, past and future, which is essential to tackling today's big challenges - potentially catastrophic climate change and inequality

Diane Coyle, former Vice Chair of the BBC Trust, author of Cogs and Monsters

Big Science at its best ... Galor's erudition and creativity are remarkable

Prof. Steven N. Durlauf, University of Chicago, on Unified Growth Theory

An engaging and optimistic answer to anyone who thinks that poverty and inequality will always be with us

Ian Morris, author of Why the West Rules – For Now

Galor's project is breathtakingly ambitious

Robert Solow, Nobel Laureate in Economics

A magisterial account of the evolution of human civilization from its prehistoric origins into the present day. It's a page-turner, a suspense-filled thriller full of surprises, mind-bending puzzles and profound insights

Glenn C. Loury, author of The Anatomy of Racial Inequality

In lucid, accessible prose, Galor ingeniously traces obscure influences over centuries ... This engrossing history reveals that subtle causes can have astounding effects

A tour de force. This deeply argued book brilliantly weaves the threads of global economic history to deconstruct the rich tapestry that is the modern world

Dani Rodrik, author of Straight Talk on Trade

One of the hottest books of the year ahead

Reading Oded Galor's upbeat book I...[was] taken aback by his imagination and verve... great sections of Galor's book are to be applauded... his optimism about humanity shines through

The Journey of Humanity is a good summary of growth theories and is an elegantly written and accessible book

Galor argues that climate policy should not be restricted to cutting carbon but should also involve "pushing hard for gender equality, access to education and the availability of contraceptives, to drive forward the decline in fertility". India will do well to heed that advice

The Journey of Humanity stretches from the emergence of Homo sapiens to the present day, and has a lot to say about the future, too. In just over 240 pages it covers our migration out of Africa, the development of agriculture, the Industrial Revolution and the phenomenal growth of the past two centuries. It takes in population change, the climate crisis and global inequality ... There will be inevitable comparisons with Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens ... If you need an evidence-based antidote to doomscrolling, here it is ... Galor builds his case meticulously, always testing his assumptions against the evidence, and without the sense of agenda-pushing that accompanies other boosterish thinkers - the Steven Pinkers or Francis Fukuyamas of this world

Incredibly wide-ranging and detailed historical and even anthropological examination of the myriad factors that have brought success and failure to nations ... Lively and learned

Tim Hazledine, Emeritus Professor of Economics, University of Auckland

An optimist's guide to the future ... Oded Galor's 'Sapiens'-like history of civilisation predicts a happy ending for humanity

Ambitious and deep ... the product of genuine scholarship

Jason Furman, economics professor at Harvard, former advisor to Barack Obama

#1 Best Economics Book of 2022, FiveBooks.com

And the Keys to Human Progress

Brought to you by Penguin. 
 
*** Includes a recording of the Intelligence Squared event, featuring Oded Galor in conversation with Kamal Ahmed *** 
 
 THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER 
 
'Masterful. Galor answers the ultimate mystery' LEWIS DARTNELL 
'Completely brilliant and utterly original' JON SNOW 
'Astounding in scope and insight' NOURIEL ROUBINI 
 
The stunning advances that have transformed human experience in recent centuries are no accident of history - they are the result of universal and timeless forces, operating since the dawn of our species. Drawing on a lifetime's scientific investigation, Oded Galor's ground-breaking new vision identifies these keys to human progress, overturning a host of long-held assumptions and revealing the deeper causes that have shaped the journey of humanity: 
 
Education rather than industrialisation 
Family size and gender equality as much as inventions and technology 
Geography and diversity rather than wars, disease and famine 
 
* 
 
'Unparalleled in its scope and ambition . . . All readers will learn something' Washington Post 
 
'A magisterial, suspense-filled thriller full of surprises and profound insights' Glenn C. Loury 
 
'An inspiring, readable, jargon-free and almost impossibly erudite masterwork' New Statesman 
 
'If you need an evidence-based antidote to doomscrolling, here it is' Guardian 
 
© Oded Galor 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

A landmark account of our journey from the dawn of human existence to the present - with vital lessons for our future. 
 
What are the keys to human progress? In the last two hundred years, stunning advances in health, wealth and lifespan have fundamentally transformed the experience of being human, at least for some. But this was no accident of history. Drawing on a lifetime's investigation, Oded Galor identifies the universal forces behind this change, and so unlocks the mystery of human development. 
 
Galor's breakthrough vision upends many assumptions. The game-changing revolution of recent centuries was not industrialisation but mass education; not the era of child labour but the end of it. New technology can enhance living standards - but it has done so only by reducing family size and spurring greater gender equality. Meanwhile, differing levels of diversity, stemming from patterns of human migration tens of thousands of years ago, have been as powerful in determining the fate of nations as colonialism or geography. 
 
How did Europe soar ahead of previously more advanced civilisations such as China and the Ottoman Empire? Why have workers' revolutions succeeded in agricultural but not industrialised nations? How have soil types affected gender relations and coast lines entrepreneurialism? Why are Bolivia's challenges the opposite of Ethiopia's? Is continued growth compatible with tackling the climate crisis? 
 
Making astounding connections across continents and millennia, The Journey of Humanity answers all these questions and more in a bold and captivating narrative that reframes our understanding of human history. Its transformative and ultimately hopeful vision contains the keys not only to the thriving of our species but to our survival.

The Journey of Humanity

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Oded Galor

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