Description:
Winner of the Phi Beta Kappa Ralph Waldo Emerson Award
"[A]n incisive and captivating reassessment of prehistory . . . In lucid prose, Geroulanos unspools an enthralling and detailed history of the development of modern natural science. It's a must-read." --Publishers Weekly, starred review
"An astute, powerfully rendered history of humanity." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review
An eminent historian tells the story of how we came to obsess over the origins of humanity--and how, for three centuries, ideas of prehistory have been used to justify devastating violence against others.
Brief description: Stefanos Geroulanos is the Director of the Remarque Institute and a Professor of History at New York University. The author of Transparency in Postwar France: A Critical History of the Present and other books, he lives in New York, NY.
Review Quotes: This brilliant and sardonic text takes readers through the farcical, cringe-worthy historiography of prehistoric humanity, in which many terrible philosophies have come to many terrible conclusions.... The Invention of Prehistory makes for essential--and disturbingly relevant--reading.--Lit Hub, "noteworthy nonfiction of 2024"