David Graeber and David Wengrow: How Cities (Not) Came to Be
As the two Davids never tire of reminding us, ancient history is much more fascinating and varied than we used to think. From their new book, “The Beginning of Everything: A New History of Humanity,” we have already learned about the three basic freedoms of our ancestors, the “relative-absolute” power of monarchs, prosperity in so-called periods of “chaos/decline,” and the leisure and prosperity of ancient hunters and gatherers.