▁people ▁sa fer ▁and ▁more ▁prosper ous . ▁Instead , ▁he ▁arg ues , ▁people ▁had ▁to ▁be ▁forced ▁to ▁live ▁in ▁the ▁early ▁states , ▁which ▁were ▁hier arch ical , ▁bes et ▁by ▁mal nut r ition ▁and ▁disease , ▁and ▁often ▁based ▁on ▁sla very . ▁The ▁book ▁has ▁been ▁pra ised ▁for ▁re - open ing ▁some ▁of ▁the ▁biggest ▁questions ▁in ▁human ▁history . ▁A ▁review ▁in ▁Science ▁con cludes ▁that ▁the ▁book ' s ▁th esis ▁" is ▁fasc in ating ▁and ▁represents ▁an ▁alternative , ▁nu anced , ▁if ▁somewhat ▁spec ulative , ▁scenario ▁on ▁how ▁civil ized ▁society ▁came ▁into ▁being ." ▁ ▁Background ▁ ▁Scott ▁is ▁among ▁the ▁world ' s ▁most - c ited ▁political ▁scient ists . ▁He ▁spent ▁much ▁of ▁his ▁career ▁studying ▁South - E ast ▁Asia , ▁and ▁producing ▁books ▁such ▁as ▁The ▁Art ▁of ▁Not ▁Being ▁Govern ed ▁and ▁See ing ▁Like ▁a ▁State . ▁He ▁has ▁long ▁been ▁a ▁critic ▁of ▁state ▁power , ▁having ▁previously ▁written ▁on ▁the ▁subject ▁of ▁an arch ism ▁in ▁works ▁such ▁as ▁Two ▁Cheers ▁for ▁An arch ism . ▁Again st ▁the ▁Gra in ▁returns ▁to ▁pre - history ▁and ▁discuss es ▁the ▁conditions ▁under ▁which ▁the ▁first ▁people ▁stopped ▁living ▁as ▁h unter - g ather ers ▁and ▁moved ▁to ▁live ▁in ▁permanent ▁settlement s ▁based ▁on ▁agricult ure ▁and ▁admin ister ed ▁by ▁an ▁el ite . ▁Scott ▁challeng es ▁the ▁conventional ▁narr ative ▁that ▁this ▁change ▁was ▁welcome