Eve: How The Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution

An ambitious, eye-opening, myth-busting and groundbreaking history of the evolution of the female body, by a brilliant new scientist and writer

How did wet nurses drive civilization? Are women always the weaker sex? Is sexism useful for evolution? And are our bodies at war with our babies?

In Eve, Cat Bohannon answers questions scientists should have been addressing for decades. With boundless curiosity and sharp wit, she covers the past 200 million years to explain the specific science behind the development of the female sex. Eve is not only a sweeping revision of human history, it’s an urgent and necessary corrective for a world that has focused primarily on the male body for far too long. Bohannon’s findings, including everything from the way C-sections in the industrialized world are rearranging women’s pelvic shape to the surprising similarities between pus and breast milk, will completely change what you think you know about evolution and why Homo sapiens have become such a successful and dominant species, from tool use to city building to the development of language.

Review: A smart, funny, scientific deep-dive into the power of a woman’s body, Eve surprises, educates, and emboldens. Who runs the world? Girls! — Bonnie Garmus, author of LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY
An epic combination of science and speculation that places women at the centre of history — Observer
Such a rare book: scholarly, funny, accessible and very important. A truly original history of humans that explains so much of who we are today — Chris van Tulleken, author of ULTRA-PROCESSED PEOPLE
A vast and revolutionary history of female evolution . . . [Eve] is a gripping, lyrical tale of female suffering, of remarkable resilience, of the lengths we will go to to survive and to protect our young. It makes being a woman seem truly extraordinary — Laura Hackett * Sunday Times *
Utterly fascinating. This book should revolutionise our understanding of human life. It is set to become a classic — George Monbiot, author of REGENESIS

Format: Paperback
Pages: 512
Imprint: Hutchinson Heinemann
Publication date: 12/10/2023