A review by philipkenner
On Deep History and the Brain by Daniel Lord Smail

4.0

Daniel Lord Smail proposes a new way of looking at early human life. I’m the first three chapters, he breaks down the history of historicization in order to argue for a shift in the way we think about pre-civilization history. Smail argues for a “Deep History,” one which acknowledges human development without a need to focus on the invention of government or writing. In the second half of the book, he links his critique of “Sacred History” to a chronology of human brain development. He suggests historians consider the development of the brain when drawing a map of the origins of humankind. On the flip side, he argues that researchers consider history when researching the brain. The book is ultimately a reframing of history. It was enjoyable and eye opening, although if it can be a little dense and hard to follow at times. The arguments Smail makes are simple in distillation, but because he must present multiple historical viewpoints about history itself, it becomes difficult to understand which historical theories Smail presents is in order to critique or uphold.