Unstoppable Us, Volume 2: Why the World Isn't Fair

Book excerpt: From world-renowned historian and philosopher Yuval Noah Harari, the author of Sapiens, comes the second volume in the bestselling Unstoppable Us middle-grade series that traces human development from hunter-gatherer societies to cities and empires. Humans may have taken over the world, but what happened next? How did our hunter-gatherer ancestors become village farmers? Why were kingdoms and laws established? How did we go from being the rulers of Earth to the rulers of each other? And why isn’t the world fair? The answer to all of that is one of the strangest tales you’ll ever hear. And it’s a true story. From cultivating land and sharing resources to building pyramids and paying taxes, prepare to discover how humans created civilization — and suffered the consequences for it. Acclaimed author Yuval Noah Harari is back with another expertly crafted story of how humans became "unstoppable," complete with maps, a timeline, and full-color illustrations that bring his dynamic unputdownable writing to life.