Life Story cover art

Life Story

From Cells to Civilisations and Beyond

Preview

Listen with Audible free trial

Free with 30-day trial
Prime logo New to Audible Prime Member exclusive:
2 credits with free trial
1 credit a month to use on any title to download and keep
Listen to anything from the Plus Catalogue—thousands of Audible Originals, podcasts and audiobooks
Download titles to your library and listen offline
₹199.00 per month after 30-day trial. Cancel anytime.

Life Story

Written by: Jonathan Loh
Narrated by: Jonathan Loh
Free with 30-day trial

₹199.00 per month after 30-day trial. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for ₹842.13

Buy Now for ₹842.13

What if life on Earth evolved not once – but twice?
And what if we're now facing a third phase of evolution?

Life on Earth has evolved not once, but twice. First as organic life – from single cells to the astonishing diversity of the natural world. Then as human culture – from hunter-gatherers to cities, empires and global civilisations.

In this sweeping and original work, Jonathan Loh reveals a radical idea: culture as a form of life. Unfolding across deep time – from the earliest organisms to the rise of Homo sapiens, from foragers to farmers, from the Bronze Age to the Industrial Revolution – it uncovers the hidden patterns linking genetics and language, organisms and states, ecosystems and economies, mass extinctions and civilisational collapse.

One species has come to dominate the Earth. Yet as machine intelligence gathers pace, Loh asks whether that supremacy is only a phase in life’s longer story.

What can we learn from our past? And what does this mean for our future?

© Jonathan Loh 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

Biological Sciences Civilisation Future Studies Science Social Sciences World
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1

Critic Reviews

A chronology of being human and what that means, with some surprising, chilling but nevertheless credible thoughts on our AI future and beyond. Beautifully written and accessible, it's a guide to what we were, what we are and what we might come to be (Lorna Gibb, author of RARE TONGUES)
Life on Earth is entering a new dawn. But how did we get here, and where do we go next? Jonathan Loh paints the big picture. Profound and timely
No reviews yet