One of The Washington Post's 10 Best Books of 2017

Sapolsky has created an immensely readable, often hilarious romp through the multiple worlds of psychology, primatology, sociology and neurobiology to explain why we behave the way we do. It is hands-down one of the best books I've read in years. I loved it.- Dina Temple-Raston, The Washington Post

It's no exaggeration to say that Behave is one of the best nonfiction books I've ever read. -David P. Barash, The Wall Street Journal

A quirky, opinionated and magisterial synthesis of psychology and neurobiology that integrates this complex subject more accessibly and completely than ever.... a wild and mind-opening ride into a better understanding of just where our behavior comes from. Darwin would have been thrilled. -Richard Wrangham, The New York Times Book Review

[Sapolskly's] new book is his magnum opus, but is also strikingly different from his earlier work, veering sharply toward hard science as it looms myriad strands of his ruminations on human behavior. The familiar, enchanting Sapolsky tropes are here-his warm, witty voice, a sleight of hand that unfolds the mysteries of cognition-but Behave keeps the bar high. . . . A stunning achievement and an invaluable addition to the canon of scientific literature, certain to kindle debate for years to come. -Minneapolis Star Tribune

A masterly cross-disciplinary scientific study of human behavior: What in our glands, our genes, our childhoods explains our species' capacity for both altruism and brutality? This comprehensive and friendly survey of a 'big sprawling mess of a subject' is leavened by an impressive data-to-silly joke ratio. It has my vote for science book of the year. -Parul Sehgal, New York Times

A monumental contribution to the scientific understanding of human behavior that belongs on every bookshelf and many a course syllabus . . . It is a magnificent culmination of integrative thinking, on par with similar authoritative works, such as Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel and Steven Pinker's The Better Angels of Our Nature. -Michael Shermer, American Scholar

Behave is the best detective story ever written, and the most important. If you've ever wondered why someone did something-good or bad, vicious or generous-you need to read this book. If you think you already know why people behave as they do, you need to read this book. In other words, everybody needs to read it. It should be available on prescription (side effects: chronic laughter; highly addictive). They should put Behave in hotel rooms instead of the Bible: the world would be a much better, wiser place -Kate Fox, author of Watching the English

Magisterial . . . This extraordinary survey of the science of human behaviour takes the reader on an epic journey . . . Sapolsky makes the book consistently entertaining, with an infectious excitement at the puzzles he explains . . . a miraculous synthesis of scholarly domains. -Steven Poole, The Guardian

Rarely does an almost 800-page book keep my attention from start to finish, but If anyone can save evolutionary biology from TED talkers and pop-science fabulists, it might be Sapolsky.... Behave ranges at great length from moral philosophy to social science, genetics to Sapolsky's home turf of neurons and hormones-but all of it is aimed squarely at the question of why humans are so awful to each other, and whether the condition is terminal. -Vulture

Robert Sapolsky's students must love him. In Behave, the primatologist, neurologist and science communicator writes like a teacher: witty, erudite and passionate about clear communication. You feel like a lucky auditor in a fast-paced undergraduate course, where the implications of fascinating scientific findings are illuminated through topical stories and pop-culture allusions. -Nature

Sapolsky's book shows in exquisite detail how culture, context and learning shape everything our genes, brains, hormones and neu