Books › Our Inner Ape › Books like it
If you loved
Books like Our Inner Ape
A hopeful, scientifically grounded exploration of the primate heritage that shapes both our darkest impulses and our highest moral capacities. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with Our Inner Ape.
- intellectually stimulating
- hopeful
- reflective
- 01
The Bonobo and the Atheist
Henry Cabot Lodge (Jr.)
A warm, scientifically grounded exploration that finds the roots of human goodness not in the heavens, but in the earth and our primate cousins.
- 02
Chimpanzee Politics
Frans de Waal · 1982
A fascinating look into the Machiavellian power struggles and social dynamics of our closest evolutionary relatives.
- 03
Sex at Dawn
Christopher Ryan
A witty, paradigm-shifting exploration of human evolution that gleefully dismantles the standard narrative of natural monogamy.
- 04
Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?
Frans de Waal
A mind-expanding journey that dismantles human arrogance and replaces it with a profound awe for the hidden genius of the natural world.
- 05
Why Is Sex Fun?
Jared M. Diamond · 1998
A witty, eye-opening biological safari into the weirdest mating habits in the animal kingdom: our own.
- 06
The Third Chimpanzee
Jared M. Diamond · 2000
A fascinating, slightly humbling mirror held up to humanity, revealing the wild animal lurking just beneath our civilized veneer.
- 07
The Human Zoo
Desmond Morris
A provocative, biological lens turned on the concrete jungle, revealing the restless primate beneath the civilized commuter.
- 08
In the shadow of man
Lawick-Goodall, Jane · 1971
An immersive blend of scientific discovery and personal adventure that bridges the gap between humanity and the wild.
- 09
The Ape that Understood the Universe
Steve Stewart-Williams
An expansive, intellectually stimulating exploration of how a biological primate developed the capacity to ponder its own existence.
- 10
Behave
Robert M. Sapolsky
A witty, mind-expanding journey backward through time to uncover the biological and environmental roots of our greatest triumphs and darkest impulses.
- 11
A primate's memoir
Arnaldur Indriðason · 2001
A hilarious, sun-baked, and ultimately heartbreaking love letter to a troop of Kenyan baboons and the messy reality of scientific fieldwork.
- 12
Your inner fish
Neil Shubin
A joyful, mind-expanding journey through deep time that reveals the ancient menagerie hiding within our own anatomy.
