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
applied for.

Digital Edition OCTOBER 2020 ISBN: 978-0-06-308796-5
Version 10152020
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-305133-1

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
applied for.

Digital Edition OCTOBER 2020 ISBN: 978-0-06-308796-5
Version 10152020
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-305133-1

To the extinct, the lost and the forgotten.
Everything that comes together is bound to 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 this
graphic novel. Their creative genius has enabled the three of us to retell human history from
a completely fresh perspective—I could not have done it without them. Their humor and
intelligence made it a truly enjoyable experience. It has been sheer fun to work together.

To Martin Zeller for editing the French text and enabling our bilingual team to work together smoothly.

To Adriana Hunter, whose translation of the text from French to English not only
bridged many cultural gaps but also helped bring the characters to life.

To Claire Champion for coloring and adding depth to the illustrations.

To Anne Michel, Lauren Triou, Aurelie Lapautre and the entire Albin Michel team who
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 guidance,
their dedication and their ideas, and for making a captivating story emerge out of a sea of
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, Nina Zivy, Jason Parry, Galiete Gothelf, Erick Marchan and as a research assistant,
Katia Zotovski, for their enthusiastic and professional work, whether in a cramped Tel
Aviv apartment, in shiny new offices or locked down in their own homes.

To Slava Greenberg for his invaluable input on human diversity and for saving us from many pitfalls.

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 of 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.
—DANIEL CASANAVE

Thank you to Noé, Caroline and Franck for their valuable help.
—CLAIRE CHAMPION

David Vandermeulen, Daniel Casanave and the editor, Martin Zeller, would like to thank
Yuval Noah Harari for agreeing to embark on this illustrated adventure with them,
and the Sapienship team for their unfailing support and their enthusiasm.

ALSO BY YUVAL NOAH HARARI

21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

ALSO BY YUVAL NOAH HARARI

21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

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 this
graphic novel. Their creative genius has enabled the three of us to retell human history from
a completely fresh perspective—I could not have done it without them. Their humor and
intelligence made it a truly enjoyable experience. It has been sheer fun to work together.

To Martin Zeller for editing the French text and enabling our bilingual team to work together smoothly.

To Adriana Hunter, whose translation of the text from French to English not only
bridged many cultural gaps but also helped bring the characters to life.

To Claire Champion for coloring and adding depth to the illustrations.

To Anne Michel, Lauren Triou, Aurelie Lapautre and the entire Albin Michel team who
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 guidance,
their dedication and their ideas, and for making a captivating story emerge out of a sea of
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, Nina Zivy, Jason Parry, Galiete Gothelf, Erick Marchan and as a research assistant,
Katia Zotovski, for their enthusiastic and professional work, whether in a cramped Tel
Aviv apartment, in shiny new offices or locked down in their own homes.

To Slava Greenberg for his invaluable input on human diversity and for saving us from many pitfalls.

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 of 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.
—DANIEL CASANAVE

Thank you to Noé, Caroline and Franck for their valuable help.
—CLAIRE CHAMPION

David Vandermeulen, Daniel Casanave and the editor, Martin Zeller, would like to thank
Yuval Noah Harari for agreeing to embark on this illustrated adventure with them,
and the Sapienship team for their unfailing support and their enthusiasm.

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
humans existed in the past. They lived in Africa, Asia and Europe.
Some of them became extinct, others interbred and evolved.
Nowadays, there is only one Homo species, us: Homo sapiens. All
contemporary humans throughout the world are Homo sapiens.

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
humans existed in the past. They lived in Africa, Asia and Europe.
Some of them became extinct, others interbred and evolved.
Nowadays, there is only one Homo species, us: Homo sapiens. All
contemporary humans throughout the world are Homo sapiens.

About the Author

YUVAL NOAH HARARI, bestselling historian and philosopher, is considered one of
the world’s most influential intellectuals today. His popular books have sold twenty-seven
million copies and have been recommended by Barack Obama, Chris Evans, Janelle Monáe,
Bill Gates, and many others. Harari has a PhD in history from the University of Oxford
and now lectures at the department of history, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Sapiens has been translated into sixty languages and became an international bestseller in the
United States, United Kingdom, France, China, Korea, and numerous other countries—with
sixteen million copies sold worldwide. Harari is also the author of the bestsellers Homo Deus
and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century.

Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.

About the Author

YUVAL NOAH HARARI, bestselling historian and philosopher, is considered one of
the world’s most influential intellectuals today. His popular books have sold twenty-seven
million copies and have been recommended by Barack Obama, Chris Evans, Janelle Monáe,
Bill Gates, and many others. Harari has a PhD in history from the University of Oxford
and now lectures at the department of history, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Sapiens has been translated into sixty languages and became an international bestseller in the
United States, United Kingdom, France, China, Korea, and numerous other countries—with
sixteen million copies sold worldwide. Harari is also the author of the bestsellers Homo Deus
and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century.

Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.

About the Publisher

Australia
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United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
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London SE1 9GF, UK
www.harpercollins.co.uk

United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
195 Broadway
New York, NY 10007
www.harpercollins.com

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 India
A 75, Sector 57
Noida
Uttar Pradesh 201 301
www.harpercollins.co.in

New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand
Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive
Rosedale 0632
Auckland, New Zealand
www.harpercollins.co.nz

United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF, UK
www.harpercollins.co.uk

United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
195 Broadway
New York, NY 10007
www.harpercollins.com