Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

This is a fascinating and enlightening book, and for the most part is brilliant. Although I've read about the origins of homo sapiens and human language, I've never thought of it quite as a “cognitive revolution” that separated us from other primates and animals. Still, the early part of the book–the pre-history–is necessarily speculative and is frustrating as a result. Maybe this, maybe that, and if we don't have any idea then what's the point of guessing? Similarly, the end of the book attempts to predict the future, with the same speculative and unsatisfying result. In the middle though . . . wow. Great stuff.