(JTA) – For anyone intimidated to start reading Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari’s comprehensive book “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind,” help is on the way: A graphic novel version will be available next month. “Sapiens: A Graphic History” will be narrated by a caricature of Harari and reimagines human evolution as a reality television show. It’s the first of four planned volumes covering the material in the bestselling book, which has sold 16 million copies in 60 languages worldwide. The aim is to interest readers who don’t usually engage with science and history, according to Harari’s website.

The nonfiction book charts the course of the development of humans from the prehistoric era to modernity. It was published originally in Hebrew as a textbook for Harari’s students at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Comics artists David Vandermeulen as co-writer and Daniel Casanave as the illustrator collaborated on the graphic novel.

In 2019, Harari and his husband, Itzik Yahav, co-founded Sapienship: a social impact company, with projects in the fields of entertainment and education. Sapienship tries to focus public conversation on today’s global challenges.

Main Photo: Illustrative: A skull of Homo sapiens, al-Kafza cave, Middle Paleolithic Period, ca. 85,000 years ago. (Courtesy Israel Museum)