The Journey of Humanity: The Origins of Wealth and Inequality

A landmark account of our journey from the dawn of human existence to the present - with vital lessons for our future.

What are the keys to human progress? In the last two hundred years, stunning advances in health, wealth and lifespan have fundamentally transformed the experience of being human, at least for some. But this was no accident of history. Drawing on a lifetime’s investigation, Oded Galor identifies the universal forces behind this change, and so unlocks the mystery of human development.

Galor’s breakthrough vision upends many assumptions. The game-changing revolution of recent centuries was not industrialisation but mass education; not the era of child labour but the end of it. New technology can enhance living standards - but it has done so only by reducing family size and spurring greater gender equality. Meanwhile, differing levels of diversity, stemming from patterns of human migration tens of thousands of years ago, have been as powerful in determining the fate of nations as colonialism or geography.

How did Europe soar ahead of previously more advanced civilisations such as China and the Ottoman Empire? Why have workers’ revolutions succeeded in agricultural but not industrialised nations? How have soil types affected gender relations and coast lines entrepreneurialism? Why are Bolivia’s challenges the opposite of Ethiopia’s? Is continued growth compatible with tackling the climate crisis?

Making astounding connections across continents and millennia, The Journey of Humanity answers all these questions and more in a bold and captivating narrative that reframes our understanding of human history. Its transformative and ultimately hopeful vision contains the keys not only to the thriving of our species but to our survival.