Publishers Weekly
★ 02/05/2024
NYU historian Geroulanos (The Human Body in the Age of Catastrophe) offers an incisive and captivating reassessment of prehistory. Tracing how modern notions of humanity’s origins have often mixed scientific research with political mythmaking, Geroulanos characterizes prehistory as a “pretend foundation” that does little more than codify the current era’s hierarchies of power. First galvanized by contact between Europeans and Indigenous Americans, Enlightenment-era speculation about deep-time history was influenced by existing social theories, according to Geroulanos. The most impactful of these was philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s description of Indigenous Americans as more virtuous and “primitive” than Europeans, which drew on his already developed ideas about the naturally pure condition of children. Across the ensuing centuries, Geroulanos shows, this notion of Indigenous peoples as a version of humanity still in its childhood gave rise to phrenology and “race science,” which further bolstered bunk prehistorical narratives. Examples include 19th-century research into humanity’s origins via the study of contemporaneous Indigenous peoples’ bones—as if they were living fossils—and the 20th-century idea of a pure “Aryan” race poorly extrapolated from the theoretical existence of an Indo-European proto-language. Indicting today’s research into prehistory, Geroulanos charges that reconstructions of ancient DNA rely on inherently biased data sets. In lucid prose, Geroulanos unspools an enthralling and detailed history of the development of modern natural science. It’s a must-read. (Apr.)
Chronicle of Higher Education - Jacob Mikanowski
"Geroulanos has done a redoubtable job of showing the ways in which the study of the human past has been deformed by prejudice, mythmaking, and outright racism."
The New Yorker
"With careful attention to our collective accounting of our prehistoric roots, Geroulanous considers what is revealed about our present when we write about our past."
Amia Srinivasan
"In this remarkable and enlivening study, Stefanos Geroulanos traces the development of our modern fascination with humanity’s deep past, and lays out that fascination’s deadly costs."
New Republic - Udi Greenberg
"[O]riginal and exciting . . . dazzling . . . ends with an impassionate call for radical modesty. It is time for us to admit that we simply do not know the deep past and cannot comprehend the ‘ecstasies and feelings and terrors’ that our predecessors experienced. This recognition will then allow us to root advocacy for solidarity and equality on firmer grounds."
Samuel Moyn
"In a brilliant masterstroke, Stefanos Geroulanos turns the tables on those shining a lamp on human origins, documenting how they have always held up a mirror to themselves and their own times. . . . [T]his magnificent book reminds us that inquiry is always political—and that the continuing fashion of exploring the birth of civilization and the dawn of everything has the darkest roots."
Andreas Malm
"The idea that some people have stayed behind in a savage state while others have ascended to civilization has caused and continues to cause immense suffering for those supposed to be human animals, bombed back to the Stone Age or otherwise disappeared from history. Covering an enormous territory from Rousseau to Wakanda, displaying a firework of erudition, written with verve, The Invention of Prehistory will be a milestone on the path to a less destructive relation to the deep past."
Pankaj Mishra
"Nimbly moving across a great expanse of space and time, The Invention of Prehistory dismantles our most widely accepted ideas about the origins of humanity. This is intellectual history as it should be written: serene in its mastery of intransigent material, yet endlessly provocative in argument, and ultimately fatal to long-cherished assumptions and prejudices."
New York Times - Jennifer Szalai
"History may not be bunk, but prehistory is: So argues Stefanos Geroulanos in his spirited new book... The more you want to upend the status quo, the more likely you’ll be to venerate an idyllic past. The reverse is also true: The more you want to preserve the status quo, the more likely you’ll be to scorn the past as horrific — or, at least, unsustainable. Geroulanos traces the long history of Europeans depicting Indigenous and colonized peoples as ‘savage’ — thereby rationalizing every violent measure used against them, from brutality to annihilation."
Wall Street Journal - Kyle Harper
"The strength of Mr. Geroulanos’s book lies in its breadth. It ranges easily from the pseudoscience of Freud and Jung (for both of whom idiosyncratic notions of prehistory were important) to Nazi obsessions with origins, Unesco debates about racism and modern feminist strains of social theory. Mr. Geroulanos has a good ear for prose and a knack for defamiliarizing expressions that should seem stranger: His pages on the phrase ‘the thin veneer of civilization,’ for example, are extraordinary. The book is lavishly and thoughtfully supplied with illustrations that enrich the discussion. . . . The problem of prehistory remains enormous, indeed, and it is humbling to be reminded of its abuses. Mr. Geroulanos has done so vividly."
Merve Emre
"Stefanos Geroulanos reveals how the quest for human origins emerged from the imperial mandate—to possess the earth and control its peoples. His subtle, passionate book steers us away from an unreal past and toward an equal, peaceful, and sustainable future for all."
JUNE 2024 - AudioFile
Narrator Elizabeth Wiley is a gifted enunciator, adept at delivering the full weight and value of every word. For this expansive survey of how theories of prehistory have shaped thinking and events over the past three centuries, she maintains a steady pace and a level tone. In these ways she keeps grounded a narrative that takes enormous leaps in time and locale. Wiley proves the ideal complement to historian Stefanos Geroulanos's provocative and incisive review of humankind's origin story as it's been construed by figures as far apart as Rousseau and Hitler. One learns a great deal, too, about our current knowledge of prehistory, along with its role in recorded history. Deeply satisfying and highly stimulating on a single listen, this thought-provoking narrative rewards repeated listening. D.A.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine
