Fascinating ... beguiling ... Calasso is vital - Stuart Jeffries, Guardian

There was a time when, upon encountering other beings, it was not certain whether they were animals or gods or lords of a certain species, demons or ancestors. Or simply humans. One day, which lasted many thousands of years, humans did something that no other species had yet tried, we began to imitate those same animals that persecuted us: the predators. And we became the hunter.

In this new book, Roberto Calasso takes the reader on an unforgettable journey through centuries and across cultures - from the Paleolithic era to Turing's Machine - weaving together stories of gods, animals and humans in an extraordinary tale of transformation.

He writes like a poet, not a professor, in glinting, enigmatic nuggets of narrative - Boyd Tonkin, Financial Times