How long does it take to read Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind?
Yuval Noah Harari · 2011 · 132,000 words · Non-fiction / history
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind is about 132,000 words. At the average adult silent reading speed of 238 words per minute, that takes about 9 hr 15 min. Read aloud it's closer to 12 hr 1 min, and as an audiobook at a comfortable narration pace, around 14 hr 40 min.
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind: reading time by speed
| Reading style | WPM | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Average silent reading | 238 | 9 hr 15 min |
| Reading aloud | 183 | 12 hr 1 min |
| Audiobook narration | 150 | 14 hr 40 min |
| Fast reader | 400 | 5 hr 30 min |
Based on a 132,000-word estimate. Speeds from our sources & methodology page. Your own pace may differ — the reading speed test measures it.
About Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind's length
At around 146,000 words, Sapiens is one of the longer popular non-fiction books, but Harari writes in accessible, story-driven prose rather than dense academic style. Expect 10+ hours of reading — longer if you stop to think, which the book actively invites.
For context, at 132,000 words Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind is longer than a typical novel — a typical adult novel runs around 90,000 words. That puts a focused read at roughly 9 hr 15 min for an average reader, before accounting for the density of the prose or how often you stop to re-read.
How to finish Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind on a schedule
If you'd rather pace it than binge it, here's how much daily reading it takes to finish at the average 238 WPM:
- In 3 days: about 3 hr 5 min a day
- In a week: about 1 hr 19 min a day
- In two weeks: about 40 min a day
- In a month: about 18 min a day
Prefer the audiobook?
At a comfortable 150 WPM narration pace, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind is about 14 hr 40 min of listening — though published audiobook editions are often shorter, since many narrators read faster, and most apps let you speed up to 1.25× or 1.5×. If you listen rather than read, Audible carries most editions, and our audiobook length calculator lets you check the runtime at any playback speed.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to read Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind?
At the average adult silent reading speed of 238 words per minute, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (about 132,000 words) takes roughly 9 hr 15 min. A faster reader at 400 WPM finishes in about 5 hr 30 min; reading aloud takes about 12 hr 1 min.
How many words is Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind?
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari is approximately 132,000 words. Word counts vary slightly between editions and translations, so treat this as a close estimate rather than an exact figure.
How long is the Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind audiobook?
At a comfortable narration pace of 150 WPM, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind works out to about 14 hr 40 min of listening. Published audiobook runtimes are often a little shorter, because many narrators read faster than 150 WPM — and you can speed most apps up to 1.25× or 1.5×.
Can I read Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind in one sitting?
It's a stretch for most readers. At about 9 hr 15 min of focused reading, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind is more realistically a two-to-three-session book — see the reading plan above to pace it.
How long to read other books
- Atomic Habits72,000 words · 5 hr 3 min
- 198488,942 words · 6 hr 14 min
- The Great Gatsby47,094 words · 3 hr 18 min
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone76,944 words · 5 hr 23 min
- Animal Farm29,966 words · 2 hr 6 min
- The Hobbit95,022 words · 6 hr 39 min
Work it out for any text
Reading a book that isn't listed, or a manuscript of your own? Paste it into the reading time calculator for an instant estimate, or find your personal reading speed with the words-per-minute test and recalculate from there.
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