Excellent thesis and very engaging writing. Sometimes slips a little too much into his own opinions and soapbox in a way that may leave some holes open in his arguments, or make you doubt how solid his argument actually. Overall, though, it is convincing and makes a good counter balance to the myth of prehistoric human misery.

A good book for its thesis, which is well-argued. Not quite the cornucopia of insights and fringe anecdotes as the earlier, better Sex at Dawn. It occasionally deteriorates into a manifesto, with an unremarkable and unconvincing prose style. (The chapter on psychedelics in particular could have been half the length and better for it; the last chapter on technological progressivism is muddled and intellectually weak.) Still, the essential argument is solid, unusual, and timely, so I'd recommend this strongly, with caveats.

Four stars because the author makes interesting arguments. And I always like to hear about how people are basically good.

Notes:

*I think this could have been shorter. I felt like a condensed version would make a stronger point. This almost felt like reading background research for an interesting documentary. The stuff in the end about psychedelics and Kickstarter was interesting but felt a little forced.

*This book takes other books, articles and studies to make an argument that people were happiest before we started farming and formed "civilization." I think "the research paper" approach covers a lot of information but at times is hard to read. I think some more quotes from the author interviewing experts would help. I also wanted more personal anecdotes illustrating these points. I'm a forager, I want my wisdom in the form of a story!

*After reading this, I'm still a little skeptical that we can make such definite statements about prehistoric people, but the method of examining modern hunter gatherer communities, looking for common trends, and extrapolating those trends to early humans, makes sense (but doesn't 100% sell me).

*Overall, this book got me interested in anthropology and wanting to learn more about other topics covered. A great conversation starter.

*The stuff about hearing voices--I wanted to hear more of that stuff! Is that the next book?

*The notes in the back give the reader a good idea how the author put together the book and a starting point to verify/learn more.

Sex At Dawn came along right at a time when I was questioning my own thoughts and feelings about relationships and love and it changed my life in innumerable ways for the better. Civilized To Death came along at a similar time, when I was questioning the values of this modern world, capitalism, individualism, society, etc. The things in this book didn't open my eyes to new possibilities, though, like Dawn did. That's through no fault of the author's, though. Instead, it was because through the changes I made after reading Dawn, I have spent years seeking out my own truths and ideas, and was already familiar with many of the concepts that the author presents.

Instead of presenting me with strange new ideas, this book gathered all the disparate ideas I've developed over the last decade or so and condensed them all down into reasoned, fun to read segments that aptly make all the arguments that I've been trying to make for years.

If you find yourself not quite fitting in to the modern world, not quite buying in, I recommend this book as a wonderful way to explore the idea that maybe it's not you who's wrong, it's this world we've built.

I’m conflicted about this one. It was a fun read and the “Narrative of Perpetual Progress” definitely deserves the type of debunking the author is attempting. The lives of our hunter/gatherer forbears were not as nasty, brutish, or short as the proponents of the myth of progress would have us all believe. However, their lifestyles were not as idyllic, peaceful, and sustainable as the author would have us believe either. He rightly takes scientists like Steven Pinker to task for cherrypicking data in “The Better Angels of Our Natures”, but he does the same thing himself to paint the rosiest possible picture of pre-agricultural societies. He also lost me when he started going on about magic mushrooms. Nevertheless, it was an entertaining book and the author makes a lot of very valid points. For further reading on this topic, I highly recommend Jared Diamond’s “Guns, Germs, and Steel” and Craig Dilworth’s “Too Smart for Our Own Good: The Ecological Predicament of Humankind”

Everyone should read it