"The Long View: Our Human Odyssey" is a nonfiction book group that will consider books that are oriented towards helping us understand what we—as humans—are, how we arrived here in evolutionary terms (physical, cultural, etc.), and our place in the world.

We are starting with "A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived: The Stories in Our Genes,"" by Adam Rutherford. Some of the other titles that have come up are:

  • "Guns, Germs, and Steel" — Jared Diamond
  • "Salt: A World History" — Mark Kurlansky
  • "The Dawn of Everything" — David Graeber and David Wengrow
  • "The Righteous Mind" — Jonathan Haidt 
  • "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" — Yuval Noah Harari
  • "Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human" — Richard Wrangham 


Although only the first book has been scheduled, this list will give you an idea of the type of works that we will read and discuss.

Since most of these books are considerably longer than the fiction read by our other book groups, we don't think the usual one-book-a-month pattern will work. We are not sure yet what will work, but we will discuss this on 05 March at the first meeting, along with a potential reading list.

The Long View, which will be limited to 10 people, will initially meet at a member's apartment. As with the other book groups, two seats will be available each meeting for new members. But these details may change as the group itself evolves. 

The group normally meets on the 1st Thursday of each month from 15:00 - 17:00.

Note: Historically our book reading groups have been among the most popular activities in WICE, and available spaces often fill quickly. We reserve two places in this group each month for new WICE members. If no new members have signed up four days before the meeting, we will open these seats to all members.

If you would like more information or if you have questions, please email:

literature@wice-paris.org

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UPCOMING EVENTS

  • LL171 The Long View: "Sapiens," by Yuval Noah Harari

    • 17 Jul 2026
    • 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
    • A member's appt. in the 15th (details after registration)
    • 3
    Register

    Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind is a sweeping work of narrative non-fiction that attempts nothing less than a unified history of our species—from the emergence of Homo sapiens in prehistory to the technological and political systems of the modern world. Harari organizes this vast story around a series of transformative “revolutions”—cognitive, agricultural, and scientific—arguing that shared myths, institutions, and imagined orders have enabled large-scale human cooperation while also shaping inequality, empire, and progress.

    The narrative moves fluidly across disciplines, blending history, anthropology, and philosophy to examine how developments such as agriculture, money, religion, and capitalism have reconfigured human societies. Harari pays particular attention to the tension between collective advancement and individual well-being, questioning whether increased power has led to greater happiness or merely more complex forms of constraint. Along the way, he offers striking interpretations of topics ranging from the domestication of plants and animals to the rise of global capitalism and biotechnology.

    Written in a clear, accessible style, Sapiens is both ambitious and provocative, inviting readers to reconsider familiar assumptions about human progress.

    Sapiens is not without critics, and each group participant will be given a selection of critical book reviews from which to choose one to read and discuss at the meeting.

    This book is 443 pages long. 

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