"An enthralling and profoundly humane book that every civilized person should read."
—The Wall Street Journal 
The blockbuster New York Times bestseller and the companion volume to the wildly popular radio series

When did people first start to wear jewelry or play music? When were cows domesticated, and why do we feed their milk to our children? Where were the first cities, and what made them succeed? Who developed

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"One of the central facts of human existence is that every known society shares a set of beliefs and assumptions--a faith, an ideology, a religion--that goes far beyond the life of the individual. These beliefs are an essential part of a shared identity. They have a unique power to define--and to divide--us and are a driving force in the politics of much of the world today. Throughout history they have most often been, in the widest sense, religious....