Humans: A Brief History of How We F*cked it All Up by Tom Phillips
- mysparethoughts
- Oct 30, 2018
- 2 min read
Phillips must be a joy of a person to hang around with because 1) he is hilarious and 2) his pessimism is basically at the same level as me. I was literally laughing out loud throughout the whole book!
The book is about human history, from the very beginning until now. Somehow, we have managed to mess it up, whilst also having survived long enough to stumble into the present. Who knows how much further we can keep this up with the sheer quantity of disastrous decisions we have made/still make? It is a wonder how we keep making the same mistakes that we have made multiple times in the past, yet we never learn from them! In any case, the book recounts historical moments in such an entertaining way that it doesn’t even feel like you are learning! Phillips also chose some very obscure examples, which is awesome because I was able to learn about moments in history that I otherwise would have never encountered! I believe that my favourite story must be that of Sigurd the Mighty, a ninth century Norse Earl of Orkney. His story is literally the definition of bad karma. Not only is the story in itself quite funny, but the way that Phillips recounts it is simply hilarious. I, honestly, would buy the book just to read that section! I also loved the chapter names, some examples:
· Prologue: The Dawn of Fuck Ups
· Why Your Brain is an Idiot
· A Dummies’ and/or Current Presidents’ Guide to Diplomacy
I think this summarises pretty well what it will be like to read this book. Expect plenty of sarcasm, pessimism and self-deprecating humour. It is pretty much the most British book to come out of Britain.
Overall, GREAT read! I really hope you read it because it is so worth it! Also, if you have already read this book I would love to hear feedback on it. If you enjoyed this review please let me know on any of my social media platforms or on this website! I would really appreciate it!
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