Tiled graphic of book jackets against a green background.

Vintage_Sapiens_reading_list_1800x1200.png

Reading lists

What to read if you loved Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari

An Intimate History

The Gene

The Gene is the story of one of the most powerful and dangerous ideas in our history.

An epic, dazzling history of the idea that defines us.From Gregor Mendel’s pea plants to the discovery of DNA and the CRISPR revolution in gene-editing, The Gene tells the story of how we came to understand heredity – to decipher the master-code that makes and defines humans – land how that knowledge now allows us to rewrite life itself. Siddhartha Mukherjee combines scientific insight with personal history, weaving in his own family’s struggles with mental illness to explore the moral frontiers of genetics.This is science writing of the highest order, humane, lyrical, and profound, showing how the study of genes illuminates both our biological destiny and our deepest hopes.‘Siddhartha Mukherjee is the perfect guide to genome science’ Bill Gates‘Thrilling and comprehensive’ Sunday Times

With a marriage of architectural precision and luscious narrative, an eye for both the paradoxical detail and the unsettling irony, and a genius for locating the emotional truths buried in chemical abstractions, Mukherjee leaves you feeling as though you’ve just aced a college course for which you’d been afraid to register — and enjoyed every minute of it

[Siddhartha Mukherjee] is the perfect person to guide us through the past, present, and future of genome science… It is up to all of us—not just scientists, government officials, and people fortunate enough to lead foundations—to think hard about these new technologies and how they should and should not be used. Reading The Gene will get you the point where you can actively engage in that debate.

The Gene is prodigious, sweeping, and ultimately transcendent. If you’re interested in what it means to be human, today and in the tomorrows to come, you must read this book.

Anthony Doerr, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of All the Light We Cannot See

Dramatic and precise... [A] thrilling and comprehensive account of what seems certain to be the most radical, controversial and, to borrow from the subtitle, intimate science of our time... He is a natural storyteller... A page-turner... Read this book and steel yourself for what comes next.

The story […] has been told, piecemeal, in different ways, but never before with the scope and grandeur that Siddhartha Mukherjee brings to his new history, The Gene. He fully justifies the claim that it is “one of the most powerful and dangerous ideas in the history of science.” … Definitive

[The Gene is] destined to soar into the firmament of the year's must reads, to win accolades and well-deserved prizes, and to set a new standard for lyrical science writing.

The Gene is as engaging, powerful and elegant a piece of science writing as you are likely to read this year… Mukherjee has three rare talents. The first is a shining prose style quite unlike anything else in his field… A novelist’s command of narrative and tone. The third and most unusual talent is an eye for the lustre among the manifold drudgeries of research… It takes a skilful writer to turn all the personalities and patients, data and ideas into something that is dramatic without being melodramatic… The Gene succeeds as a compelling story... For this alone, Mukherjee deserves another part-time Pulitzer.

Mukherjee is an assured, polished wordsmith… This is a big book, bursting with complex ideas… Well-written, accessible and entertaining account of one of the most important of all scientific revolutions, one that is destined to have a fundamental impact on the lives of generations to come. The Gene is an important guide to that future.

His sweeping and compellingly told history – and there is no more accessible and vivid survey available – is about hubristic ambition as much as stunning achievement.

Magisterial ... [The Gene] will confirm [Mukherjee] as our era’s preeminent popular historian of medicine. The Gene boasts an even more ambitious sweep of human endeavor than its predecessor ... Mukherjee punctuates his encyclopaedic investigations of collective and individual heritability, and our closing in on the genetic technologies that will transform how we will shape our own genome, with evocative personal anecdotes, deft literary allusions, wonderfully apt metaphors, and an irrepressible intellectual brio

[It] takes a monumental and complex subject which is woven into every part of our lives and makes it both gripping and accessible.

Not just first-class science writing but an important intellectual contribution in its own right.

He writes with the natural flate of a seasoned novelist… [The Gene] is a pleasure to read… This is an exceptional book, and I thoroughly recommend it to every inquisitive person.

The book is compassionate, tautly synthesized… A page-turner.

Mukherjee is an outstanding guide…[The Gene] is a remarkably instructive, stimulating and, at every level of its generous construction, artful work of popular science.

Visceral and thought-provoking descriptions of the horrors of early-twentieth-century US eugenics.

Virtuoso performance… Remarkably clear and compelling prose… Glorious tour of human genetics.

Remarkable and thought-provoking book… Mukherjee explores in considerable and lucid detail… What he does magnificently is trace the history of the gene in illuminating detail… If you want to know what is happening now, this is an essential read.

A sweeping history of genetic theory and a considered look at where it might lead us in the future.

Dazzling... There is nothing about Gene that is less than nuanced.

A magnificent synthesis of the science of life, and forces all to confront the essence of that science as well as the ethical and philosophical challenges to our conception of what constitutes being human

Paul Berg, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry

A tourist guide to the new Africa, the human genome… Mukherjee gives an exhaustive account of the development of the modern science of inheritance… Mukherjee does a good job of cutting away the web of ambiguity and complexity’

Written with the rollicking enthusiasm of sports journalism… Mukherjee has an ear for his subject’s rhetorical brilliance.

Meticulous… Carefully constructed, deliberate prose.

Makes a compelling case that our ability to harness the medical benefits of genomic science while avoiding its hazards promises to be among the defining challenges of the 21st century.

Mukherjee has done readers an admirable service, by turning one of the most important scientific sagas – arguably the most important – in history into a tale that is too good not to know

Rather wonderful book… All-encompassing and eye-opening and moving and amusing, at times, and endlessly fascinating and truly brilliant… As long as intelligent, empathetic, thoughtful people like himself are to the forefront, it should turn out alright.

An accessible and beautifully written overview of the complex field of genetics by the Indian-born doctor. It’s compellingly personal and provocative, too.

Mukherjee views his subject panoptically from a great and clarifying height, yet also intimately.

Dr Mukherjee uses personal experience to particularly good effect… He writes tenderly.

Mukherjee has a gift for making gripping, vivid narrative out of the cataclysmic but largely invisible drama of molecular biology.

Intimate, insider’s account of the role that genetics.

A tourist guide to the twenty-first century’s uncharted continent, the human genome... Gives a full and lively account of the development of the subject... He has talked to many of the main players and gives deep insights into their moments of discovery... Mukherjee does a good job of cutting away the web of ambiguity and complexity that scientists have woven.

A daring and highly personal voyage into the future of genetic research

The Gene’s dominant traits are historical breadth, clinical compassion, and Mukherjee’s characteristic graceful style… Mukherjee writes eloquently

[It is] accessible and beautifully written… It’s compellingly personal and provocative, too.

The Gene is a staggeringly impressive piece of writing… [It] takes us on a fascinating journey through the world of genetics… Written with a clarity that brings the most complex concepts to life… An accessible, gripping and thought-provoking read. In short, this book is a masterpiece and you should read it.

You may think this book is not for you. Thing again… My only caution would be not to recommend it to too many people… So whether you’re a teacher or parent attempting to inspire…or you simply want an erudite anecdote, this book is for you. It’s a dazzling example of scientific story-telling and definitely my book of the year.

An epic 150-year, 500-plus page journey of genetic discovery… [An] excellent and authoritative account.

This is a brilliantly readable celebration of the science and scientists who have transformed out understanding of what it means to be human.

The Gene is a truly impressive achievement… Mukherjee has created a masterwork of the history of the gene and its study. In this popular science book, scientist and non-scientist readers alike will feel they have a true understanding of the history, biology and ethics of genetics.

He deftly lays out a history of the gene… One of the great science books of the decade with an engagingly enthusiastic personality at its heart.

Mukherjee writes with clarity and passion… This should prove a fascinating read for anyone interested in understanding how far the study of the gene has taken us, particularly with respect to medicine, and where the future may lie.

Ambitious and honest, The Gene sheds light on both our past and future.

Mukherjee’s text brims with potential… Surely The Gene has to be the new bible for a new generation of aspiring biologists, biochemists and, frankly, thinking people? So whether you’re a teacher or parent attempting to inspire a reluctant teen to get excited about science, or you simply want an erudite anecdote, this book is for you. It’s a dazzling example of scientific story-telling, and definitely my book of the year.

If you want a good overview of the history of the gene, you can’t go wrong starting here.

Mukherjee’s prose tends to be lavish, but this befits the weighty topic, and his explanatory style is clear yet enveloping… Compelling scientific and medical storytelling… A spectacular effort from an author I hopes has plenty more tales to tell.

This book captures the progression from that intuitive sense of genetics to its birth as a veritable science and, for better or for worse, its evolution into a powerful tool… The book ends not with a conclusion, but with a feeling of anticipation… In many ways, The Gene is a call for caution and for a thoughtful consideration of the possibilities that progress may bring… When genes become tools, what will those tools be used for? As we try to answer that question, Mukherjee’s book asks us to carefully look back before we continue to move forward

A comprehensive – and gripping – history of the gene

Siddhartha Mukherjee

Brilliant ... medical magic ... written with compassionate warmth and humour

Wonderfully ambitious... Cell biology is complex and as big a topic as life itself; I'm not sure a writer could cover it better

If you are not already in awe of biology, The Song of the Cell might get you there. It is a masterclass

Some of the writing in The Song of the Cell is so lovely that you can get caught up in its music

A confident, timely - and most importantly, biologically precise - exploration of what it means to be human

Part mystery, part adventure story, The Song of the Cell is an irresistible foray into the frontiers of medical science [and] a reminder of the power of human ingenuity that is likely to leave readers both enlightened and hopeful.

Jennifer Egan, author of the Pulitzer Prize winning A Visit from the Goon Squad

A passionate, expert guide ... Mukherjee's ambition has once again paid off, creating an encyclopaedic exploration of how we got to this point - and sketching out the questions we must ask about the future

A remarkable achievement - a fascinating and highly readable crash course on the complexities of cellular physiology and of life itself

For anyone who wants to understand the building blocks of their own bodies - which everyone surely should - this is an informative and entertaining introduction

All of us will get sick at some point. All of us will have loved ones who get sick. To understand what's happening in those moments - and to feel optimistic that things will get better - it helps to know something about cells, the building blocks of life. Mukherjee's latest book will give you that knowledge ... Mukherjee, who's both an oncologist and a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, brings all of his skills to bear in this fantastic book

Deeply researched, The Song of the Cell is an extraordinary journey through the history of discovery to the most innovative cellular medicine practiced today and the promise of what lies ahead.

Paul Nurse, Nobel Laureate Physiology or Medicine 2001

Audacious...mesmerizing...reliably engaging... Mukherjee enthusiastically instructs and... delights - all the while hustling us across a preposterously vast and intricate landscape

An extraordinarily gifted storyteller... The author's ideas about the near future of medicine are both convincing and inspiring. This is another winner from Mukherjee.

A lively, personal, detailed, often moving account of the cell in medical history and its promise in the present

A lively, thought-provoking book... Mukherjee comes across not only as a brilliant researcher but also as a deeply empathetic human being

A masterclass in cell function that will leave you in awe of biology

This complex portrait illuminates cells' roles in immunity, reproduction, sentience, cognition, repair and rejuvenation

One of the most admired doctors in the world

A tour d'horizon of cell theory... part history lesson, part biology lesson and part reminder of how science itself actually proceeds

This complex portrait illuminates cells' roles in immunity, reproduction, sentience, cognition, repair and rejuvination, malfunctions such as cancer, and treatments such as blood transfusions, drawing on author Siddhartha Mukherjee's varied experience as an immunologist, stem-cell scientist, cancer biologist and medical oncologist

The book is, at root, a call for a more integrated biology ... What gives The Song of the Cell its persuasiveness in calling for that new vision is precisely that it comes from a clinician steeped in the traditions of genomic and cell biology, and who has seen both the power and limitations of those approaches to produce actual cures

What truly elevates the book are Mukherjee's accounts of his experiences as a clinician and the stories of the patients he has encountered. Some are moving, and all are reflective and insightful

The Story of Life

**Longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize 2023** 
 
A NEW YORK TIMES, DAILY TELEGRAPH, ECONOMIST, MAIL ON SUNDAY and GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR 
 
From the dawn of life itself, every being that has ever lived owes its existence to the cell. 
 
'Will leave you in awe' Guardian 
 
The discovery of this vital form led to a transformation in medicine but also in our understanding of ourselves - not as bodies or machines but as ecosystems. It has also given us the power to treat a vast array of mortal maladies...and even to create new kinds of human altogether. 
 
Rich with stories of scientists, doctors and the patients whose lives may be saved by their work, The Song of the Cell is a stunning ode to the building blocks of life and the cutting-edge science harnessing their power for the better. 
 
'Profound...As big a topic as life itself' The Times 
 
'Medical magic' Daily Telegraph 
 
'Vast...important...optimistic' Mail on Sunday

Siddhartha Mukherjee

Praise for The Song of the Cell

Brilliant ... medical magic ... written with compassionate warmth and humour

Wonderfully ambitious... Cell biology is complex and as big a topic as life itself; I'm not sure a writer could cover it better

If you are not already in awe of biology, The Song of the Cell might get you there. It is a masterclass

Brilliant ... medical magic ... written with compassionate warmth and humour

Wonderfully ambitious... Cell biology is complex and as big a topic as life itself; I'm not sure a writer could cover it better

If you are not already in awe of biology, The Song of the Cell might get you there. It is a masterclass

Brilliant ... medical magic ... written with compassionate warmth and humour

Wonderfully ambitious... Cell biology is complex and as big a topic as life itself; I'm not sure a writer could cover it better

If you are not already in awe of biology, The Song of the Cell might get you there. It is a masterclass

Books by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Articles featuring Siddhartha Mukherjee

What to read if you loved Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter