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Library/Book/Sapiens
Grade A18 sourcesHIS-01330

Sapiens

Book · 2011 · Niche

21Editable slideCertificate

Publisher-reported sales of Harari’s history book reached 25 million copies worldwide.

Clip · TED on YouTube
Cover of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
Unknown author / Public domain / Wikimedia Commons
Cover of Sapiens: A Graphic History
Yuval Noah Harari
Yuval Noah Harari giving his TED talk
TED on YouTube

Spread Score

How it works
Reach26ContagionNo data yetBreadth30Velocity0LongevityNo data yet21

Numbers

Milestone date
By end of 2017
Jun 2011 to By end of 2017
Platforms
6
Started on Retail
Origin
Seeded
Media & publishing

Mechanics

  • Maker origin
  • Platform jumpPrimary
  • Press loop
  • Controversy
  • Political adoption

How it spread

Trace the origin

Sapiens began as a Hebrew book, then reached English readers, BBC listeners and Zuckerberg’s book club. Gates and Obama recommended it. Its publisher reported 25 million sales in 2024.

Documented milestone; not a measured attention peak. Dates use the stated precision; chart positions are date anchors.

Wikipedia views · Google searchesOct ’10Feb ’12Apr ’14Apr ’15AugAug ’16Sep ’17Jul ’18Apr ’20Jan ’23Mar ’25Sep ’26MilestoneRetailAudioFacebookOpen webTVPress
RetailAudioFacebookOpen webTVPress

12 more events on this chart

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Timeline (15)

  1. June 2011

    Yuval Noah Harari seed · Jun 2011

    Harari published the Hebrew book in Israel, drawing on his undergraduate world-history lectures.[1][2]

    Open the first post ↗

  2. September 2014

    Harvill Secker / Vintage Digital commercial · Sep 4 ’14

    Harvill Secker’s English edition appeared in Britain; Penguin dated its ebook September 4.[3][1]

  3. BBC Radio 4 platform jump · Sep 8 ’14

    BBC Radio 4 began a five-part abridgement read by Adrian Scarborough.[4]

  1. commercial · Week of Feb 23, 2015

  2. commercial · May 2015

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Why it worked

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  1. 1
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Origin
Seeded
Sector
Media & publishing
Region
IL
Reported figure
—
Evidence
Grade A

Spread the same way

Book · Retail · 200754

The 4-Hour Workweek

Tim Ferriss; Crown / Harmony (publisher)

Blogger outreach took a debut book to No. 1 on the New York Times business list.

1M sold

1 / 8

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New cases, every week

How the next thing spread, the week it does.