Humankind: A Hopeful History

Why I'd hand it to you

Rutger Bregman argues that most people are basically decent, and that our cynical view of human nature is often wrong. He revisits famous studies and stories that seemed to show the opposite, like the Stanford Prison Experiment, and shows how some of them fall apart. He also tells the true story of shipwrecked boys who cooperated rather than turning on each other. It is encouraging and readable. Where it falls short: Bregman sometimes oversells his case and picks examples that fit, which critics have pointed out. Read it as a hopeful argument rather than the final verdict, and it is a good counterweight to cynicism.

— Matt Jordan