SKU: 48227375275

The Invention of Prehistory : Empire, Violence, and Our Obsession with Human Origins

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The Invention of Prehistory : Empire, Violence, and Our Obsession with Human OriginsBooks about the origins of humanity dominate best seller lists, while national newspapers present breathless accounts of new archaeological findings and speculate about what those findings tell us about our earliest ancestors. In this coruscating work, acclaimed historian Stefanos Geroulanos demonstrates how claims about the earliest humans not only shaped Western intellectual culture but gave rise to our modern world. The very idea that there was a

Books about the origins of humanity dominate best-seller lists, while national newspapers present breathless accounts of new archaeological findings and speculate about what those findings tell us about our earliest ancestors. In this coruscating work, acclaimed historian Stefanos Geroulanos demonstrates how claims about the earliest humans not only shaped Western intellectual culture but gave rise to our modern world. The very idea that there was a human past before recorded history only emerged with the Enlightenment, when European thinkers began to reject faith-based notions of humanity and history in favour of supposedly more empirical ideas about the world. From the "state of nature" and Romantic notions of virtuous German barbarians to theories about Neanderthals, killer apes and a matriarchal paradise where women ruled, Geroulanos captures the sheer variety and strangeness of the ideas that animated many of the major thinkers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Charles Darwin and Karl Marx. Yet as Geroulanos shows, such ideas became, for the most part, the ideological foundations of repressive regimes and globe-spanning empires. Deeming other peoples "savages" allowed for guilt-free violence against them; notions of "killer apes" who were our evolutionary predecessors made war seem natural. The emergence of modern science only accelerated the West's imperialism. The Nazi obsession with race was rooted in archaeological claims about prehistoric IndoGermans; the idea that colonialised peoples could be "bombed back to the Stone Age" was made possible by the technology of flight and the anthropological idea that civilisation advanced in stages. As Geroulanos argues, accounts of prehistory tell us more about the moment when they are proposed than about the deep past-and if we hope to start improving our future, we would be better off setting aside the search for how it all started. A necessary, timely, indelible account of how the quest for understanding the origins of humanity became the handmaiden of war and empire, The Invention of Prehistory will forever change how we think about the deep past.

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SKU: 48227375275

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Carnegie, US
★★★★★ 5
Nice color and perfect fit.
Size: XX-Large, Color: Light Blue
Lightweight, good material, and nice color.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2026
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lamebrunette
New York, US
★★★★★ 1
Fit: Okay, Material: ...Sensory nightmare
Size: X-Large, Color: Black
I actually love how the shirt looks, the fit is long but I'm a pretty short girl. One con that ruined the shirt entirely for me though is the material... It's grabby and not soft at all. I wanted a cute athletic turtleneck that would be breathable for a hot work environment. This is NOT it.. it immediately suffocates the skin. Sorry, I just didn't like it.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2026
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DrEAM
Grantham, US
★★★★★ 5
Super soft, runs small, long tail
High quality, super soft, good neck height, nice price, ready to go right out of the dryer, medium thick material, works well under a sport coat or sweat shirt, snug fit--runs about one size small. Length is about four inches too long. So, ideally made for tall and skinny people (I am short and thick), but going one size up works fine for me except have to tuck it in due to the length.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2025
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Gabriel King
Grantham, US
★★★★★ 5
This shirt is a cheat code
Color: Black, White, Navy Blue, Light Gray, Size: XX-Large
These shirt fits my body so perfectly! I’m 6’5” 310 pounds but I look 260 pounds. I sweat easily and I’m very sensitive to the material a piece of clothing is made of. This shirt is lightweight, extremely breathable, and feels like silk on the skin. It compliments and accentuates my contours to enhance my physique. I only tried on one and I’ve already ordered 12 more hehe. This is a cheat code.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2025
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bigness
Boise, US
★★★★★ 4
I Love the collar
Color: Black, White, Navy Blue, Wine Red, Size: Large
Great T-shirt. I can wear this casually with jeans or with a sports coat. The fabric is soft. There is no label in the collar, so you can wear it however you want.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2026

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