I found the three chapters on Liberty, Equality and Community especially engaging. Every section of the book contains touches of great brilliance and it is fair to say that there is not a single chapter that will fail to enthral most readers in some respect. He divides the book into five parts: the technological challenge, the political challenge, despair and hope, truth, and resilience. It would be impossible to do justice here to all twenty-one topics that the author has chosen to explore. Not next year or next month, but today’ (p.117). So, although this is an exciting read, it is hardly an optimistic one about humanity’s prospects long term: ‘Humanity has very little time left…We need to enter rehab today. In the first place (refreshingly) Harari confesses to ignorance of several subjects and secondly, he makes a plea for some intellectual humility among leaders, thinkers and writers which he thinks essential if we are to survive the threats of the coming decades which ‘add up to an unprecedented existential crisis’ (p.122). Is there no end to this polymath’s erudition? Well, fortunately there is – so the rest of us can breathe again and have some self-respect for our lesser but hard-won learning.

But Harari’s credentials, following the world-wide success of Sapiens and Homo Deus, are such that an academic of his standing can get away with lecturing politicians, statesmen, scientists and world religious leaders on what they are doing wrong. From a lesser public intellectual his title might be considered a touch hubristic. 21 Lessons for the 21st Century – a critical reviewĪnother astonishing and brilliant book from Yuval Noah Harari.

21 lessons of 21st century