‘Sapiens’ graphic novel coming out in October

JTA — For anyone intimidated to start reading Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari’s wildly popular book “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind,” help is on the way: A graphic novel version will be available next month.

“Sapiens: A Graphic History” will be narrated by a caricature of Harari and reimagines human evolution as a reality television show.

It’s the first of four planned volumes covering the material in the bestselling book, which has sold 16 million copies in 60 languages worldwide.

The aim is to interest readers who don’t usually engage with science and history, according to Harari’s website.

Professor Yuval Noah Harari, whose bestseller book, ‘Sapiens,’ is the basis of the Israel Museum’s new exhibit (Courtesy Yuval Noah Harari)

The nonfiction book charts the course of the development of humans from their origins as cognitively gifted hunter-gatherer primates to their development of civilization and culture from prehistory to modernity. It was originally published in Hebrew as a textbook for Harari’s students at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Comics artists David Vandermeulen and Daniel Casanave collaborated on the graphic novel as co-writer and illustrator, respectively.

In 2019, Harari and his husband, Itzik Yahav, co-founded Sapienship: a social impact company, with projects in the fields of entertainment and education. Sapienship tries to focus public conversation on today’s global challenges.