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Mothers and Others is a highly stimulating essay on the evolutionary origins of human empathy, i.e. being curious and concerned about the emotions of others. Ultimately, understanding why humans show extreme intersubjectivity is crucial in discussing the evolutionary origins of large-scale cooperation - a perennial hot topic for many evolutionary anthropologists. In this context, Sarah Hrdy challenges the current dominant view that the main selective pressure for the evolution of cooperation within a group is inter-group competition. She argues that, 'We have underestimated just how important shared care and provisioning of offspring by group members other than parents has been in shaping social impulses.' Using a broad comparative perspective, she aims to demonstrate that cooperative breeding is a pre-existing condition that permitted the evolution of key human traits such as extended lifespan, prolonged childhoods and bigger brains. However, as is often the case for the big questions in behavioural science, the accumulation of evidence does not always prevent circularity of reasoning, leading some core questions of the book (i.e. why us and not them [apes]?) partly unanswered. Consequently, Mothers and Others should be viewed as a case for alternative views and critical thinking of current theories rather than a problem-solving dissertation. Although Mothers and Others makes the case for a role of cooperative breeding in shaping cognitive traits allowing individuals to show empathy, even toward non-related individuals, it does not explain why hypersociality has evolved in humans. Nonetheless, this incredibly well documented book (>800 references) has great merit, brilliantly...