Obama praises Israeli author's best-selling history book

In a CNN interview that aired on Sunday, U.S. President Barack Obama was asked which books he read during his last annual family vacation as president. Obama mentioned two: Colson Whitehead's "The Underground Railroad," on slavery in the United States, and "Sapiens: A Brief History of Mankind," a book many in Israel would be familiar with, by Israeli author and historian Yuval Noah Harari.

"It's a sweeping history of the human race from 40,000 feet," Obama said. "And part of what makes it so interesting and provocative is because it's such a condensed, sweeping history. It talks about some core things that have allowed us to build this extraordinary civilization that we take for granted, but weren't a given. ... It gives you a sense of perspective on how briefly we've been on this earth, how short [a time] things like agriculture and science have been around, and why it makes sense for us to not take them for granted. ... It goes back to keeping the long view in mind. ... In the sweep of history, we get a very small moment in time."

In an interview with Israel's Channel 2 News on Sunday, Harari expressed delight that his work had been recommended by the leader of the free world, and said he was surprised that Obama had time to read his book.

"The difference between what started as a first-year university course in Hebrew and how it ended up now is truly very, very big," Harari said.

"To really understand our lives, we must have a broad perspective of our whole planet and the whole human race. I think that the book is successful because it satisfies the scope of this view, as opposed to most school systems in the world that do not accomplish this task."

"Sapiens: A Brief History of Mankind" was published in Hebrew by Dvir in 2011. The book is a free adaptation of Harari's "Introduction to World History" course, which he teaches at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Contrary to the traditional way history is categorized in many academic faculties, Harari's book offers a broad perspective of mankind's history in its entirety and on individual experiences spanning tens of thousands of years, offering ethical and cultural perspectives on accepted human practices. Harari tears apart several accepted social ways of thinking, including the concept of "prehistory," which he sees as erroneous. This spurred many readers' curiosity and brought him many followers, as well as many critics. The book has since been translated into dozens of languages and led popular non-fiction best-seller lists for months.

In 2015, Harari published a sequel titled "Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow," in which he discusses humanity's achievements from the language revolution to the age of technology.

This is not the first time Harari has received acclaim from a high-profile individual: Six months ago, Microsoft founder Bill Gates also recommended Harari's book.

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