This is a sweeping historical narrative of how as a species we got to where we are today from small beginnings. From the first few paragraphs, it was clear that this book is dense with information and minimal fluff, and the rest of the book did not disappoint. The writing is clear and engaging, if a bit simplistic (probably due to Hebrew-to-English translation). This book has a lot to offer, and I learned a lot.Harari emphasizes how much we has evolved with the use of "shared fictions" and story-telling, which I think is an under-appreciated lens through which to view history. There is evidence in evolutionary psychology that our minds are biased towards story-telling and narrative, in ways that do not necessarily optimize for truth-seeking, and although Harari doesn't touch on this evidence, this I found this a welcome theme throughout the book.I found a few areas of the book - areas that coincide with my own academic background - pretty weak, and sadly damage the credibility of the author. Harari heaps an almost bizarre level of disdain on the Agricultural Revolution, arguing that life was better in hunter-gathering societies. But he presents almost no evidence for this, and does not even attempt to charitably address the alternative view. The continued productivity gains from spending fewer and fewer inputs to achieve food output has freed up enormous human capital towards other endeavors (in the US only 2% of workers produce domestic food consumption - with export surplus), but Harari makes no attempt to acknowledge or address this mainline economics viewpoint, ignoring opportunity cost of human capital while focusing on the more visible costs. Relatedly, the chapters on economics beginning with "The Capitalist Creed" I found to be particularly sloppy, with virtually no citations (three to be exact) in the entire chapter, and too many appeals to emotion. Like many authors without economics training, it would be far better for Harari to have consulted with an economist to clean up the writing and avoid some common traps.Relatedly, the book contains a significant number of claims that contain neither a citation nor an effective argument in support of. In part, this is what makes the book so readable (unencumbered with too much detail or supporting argument). This is in stark contrast to "Behave" by Robert Sapolosky, which is much the opposite style (tons of detail, citations, supporting arguments, and admission of alternative views). All of this leads me to believe that this is more of an opinion piece than it's presented as.But Harari's narrative is captivating, and worth listening to. Well worth the read, so long as a small bit of skepticism is maintained.