A specialist in medieval military history who ended up writing the history of everything. Israeli historian (1976), professor in Jerusalem, author of Sapiens, plus Homo Deus, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century and Nexus. His one big idea: what makes humans special is cooperating at scale through shared fictions (money, nations, gods, corporations). Meditates two hours a day and does 60-day silent retreats; he says Sapiens would not exist without that. Critics say he oversimplifies. Millions of readers thank him for exactly that.