Description
'It's a little book of wonder, it's fantastic' Chris Evans 'A fabulously sparky, wide-ranging and horizon-broadening little study ... joyously unboring' Sunday Times Friends do it, strangers do it and so do chimpanzees - and it's not just deeply embedded in our history and culture, it may even be written in our DNA. The humble handshake, it turns out, has a rich and surprising history. So let's join palaeoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi as she embarks on a funny and fascinating voyage of discovery - from the handshake's origins (at least seven million years ago) all the way to its sudden disappearance in March 2020. Drawing on new research, anthropological insights and first-hand experience, she'll reveal how this most friendly of gestures has played a role in everything from meetings with uncontacted tribes to political assassinations - and what it tells us about the enduring power of human contact. Because the story of the handshake ... is far from over.
A quirky and engaging history reveals the secrets of one of our most ancient social gestures
About the Author
Ella Al-Shamahi is a National Geographic Explorer, palaeoanthropologist, evolutionary biologist and stand-up comic. Specialising in in Neanderthals, caves and expeditions in hostile, disputed and unstable territories, she is also a TV presenter, a TED speaker and has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She has degrees in Genetics, Taxonomy and Biodiversity, and is currently undertaking her PhD in Palaeoanthropology.
Reviews
Al-Shamahi's beguiling book has a more general claim to attention than merely being an account of the crisis in manners that Covid has made ... cheerful, witty and well-researched. -- Stephen Bayley * Spectator *
Witty and wide-ranging -- PD Smith * Guardian *
It's a little book of wonder, it's fantastic -- Chris Evans
A fabulously sparky, wide-ranging and horizon-broadening little study ... joyously unboring * Sunday Times *
Having not particularly missed shaking hands over the past year, I ended this very engaging little book so desperate to get started again that I'm in danger of becoming a super-spreader. * Telegraph *
Book Information
ISBN 9781788167819
Author Ella Al-Shamahi
Format Paperback
Page Count 176
Imprint Profile Books Ltd
Publisher Profile Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 170g
Dimensions(mm) 196mm * 126mm * 16mm
A quirky and engaging history reveals the secrets of one of our most ancient social gestures
About the Author
Ella Al-Shamahi is a National Geographic Explorer, palaeoanthropologist, evolutionary biologist and stand-up comic. Specialising in in Neanderthals, caves and expeditions in hostile, disputed and unstable territories, she is also a TV presenter, a TED speaker and has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She has degrees in Genetics, Taxonomy and Biodiversity, and is currently undertaking her PhD in Palaeoanthropology.
Reviews
Al-Shamahi's beguiling book has a more general claim to attention than merely being an account of the crisis in manners that Covid has made ... cheerful, witty and well-researched. -- Stephen Bayley * Spectator *
Witty and wide-ranging -- PD Smith * Guardian *
It's a little book of wonder, it's fantastic -- Chris Evans
A fabulously sparky, wide-ranging and horizon-broadening little study ... joyously unboring * Sunday Times *
Having not particularly missed shaking hands over the past year, I ended this very engaging little book so desperate to get started again that I'm in danger of becoming a super-spreader. * Telegraph *
Book Information
ISBN 9781788167819
Author Ella Al-Shamahi
Format Paperback
Page Count 176
Imprint Profile Books Ltd
Publisher Profile Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 170g
Dimensions(mm) 196mm * 126mm * 16mm
