Humans: A Monstrous History (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780520430792)

"Surekha Davies invites readers to imagine the lives of historical monsters and to empathize with their often-wretched treatment."―Science magazine

A history of how humans have created monsters out of one another--from our deepest fears--and what these monsters tell us about humanity's present and future.

Monsters are central to how we think about the human condition. Join award-winning historian of science Dr. Surekha Davies as she reveals how people have defined the human in relation to everything from apes to zombies, and how they invented race, gender, and nations along the way. With rich, evocative storytelling that braids together ancient gods and generative AI, Frankenstein's monster and E.T., Humans: A Monstrous History shows how monster-making is about control: It defines who gets to count as normal.

In an age when corporations increasingly see people as obstacles to profits, this book traces the long, volatile history of monster-making and charts a better path for the future. The result is a profound, effervescent, empowering retelling of the history of the world for anyone who wants to reverse rising inequality and polarization. This is not a history of monsters, but a history through monsters.

Author: Surekha Davies
ISBN-10: 0520430794
ISBN-13: 9780520430792
Publisher: University of California Press
Language: English
Published: 03/17/2026
Pages: 336
Format: Paperback