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In January 2019 a 30-year-old Dutch historian sat on a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos and told the room that it should be talking about tax, not philanthropy. The clip went round the world, and a few weeks later so did his recording of an interview with Tucker Carlson that Fox News never aired. Rutger Bregman, born in Zeeland in 1988, had by then already turned a series of articles for the Dutch online platform De Correspondent into Utopia for Realists, a case for a universal basic income. His books, written in Dutch and translated into dozens of languages, have sold about 2.5 million copies. This guide covers his seven key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 7 key books · 2012–2024 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Rutger Bregman has written seven books in Dutch, three of them available in English: Utopia for Realists (Dutch 2014, English 2017), Humankind: A Hopeful History (Dutch 2019, English 2020) and Moral Ambition (Dutch 2024, English 2025). Start with Humankind, his argument that most people are basically decent; read on for the Dutch-only books and the debate around his work.
Where to Start with Rutger Bregman
If you want his defining book
→ Humankind (2019) — the case that most people are decent.
If you want his policy ideas
→ Utopia for Realists (2014) — basic income, a 15-hour week and open borders.
If you want to change what you do for work
→ Moral Ambition (2024) — the book behind the School for Moral Ambition.
If you read Dutch and want his early work
→ De geschiedenis van de vooruitgang (2013) — the prize-winning history of progress.
7 Rutger Bregman Books, in Order
Met de kennis van toen
No English edition · available in DutchHis first book, published in 2012, the year he finished his master’s degree in history. The title means “with the knowledge of back then”; the book uses history to look at present-day questions. It has not been translated into English.
De geschiedenis van de vooruitgang
No English edition · available in Dutch“The History of Progress”: a history of how human life has improved over the centuries and what that means for how we think about the future. It won the Liberales book prize for the best Dutch-language nonfiction book of 2013. It has not been translated into English.
Utopia for Realists
Published in Dutch in 2014 by De Correspondent as Gratis geld voor iedereen (“Free money for everyone”), after starting life as a series of articles there. It argues for three ideas: a universal basic income, a working week of fifteen hours and open borders. The English translation by Elizabeth Manton came out with Bloomsbury and Little, Brown in 2017 and has been translated into 36 languages.
Waarom vuilnismannen meer verdienen dan bankiers
No English edition · available in Dutch“Why binmen earn more than bankers”: a short book written with his De Correspondent colleague Jesse Frederik, published in 2015, about which work society actually depends on and which work is paid best. It has not been translated into English.
Humankind
Published in Dutch in 2019 as De meeste mensen deugen (“Most people are decent”) and in English in 2020, translated by Elizabeth Manton and Erica Moore. Bregman argues that people are basically good, and revisits well-known stories that suggest otherwise: the Stanford Prison Experiment, the murder of Kitty Genovese, and Lord of the Flies, set against six Tongan boys who were shipwrecked in the 1960s and lived together peacefully for over a year. It has been translated into 46 languages and the paperback was a New York Times bestseller; critics have also questioned how he handles the science.
Het water komt
No English edition · available in Dutch“The water is coming”: a short Dutch book from 2020, framed as an open letter to everyone in the Netherlands, about rising sea levels and what they mean for a country much of which lies below sea level. It has not been translated into English.
Moral Ambition
Published in Dutch on 15 March 2024 as Morele ambitie and in English in May 2025. It urges talented professionals to move their careers towards large problems such as climate change, inequality and pandemics, and draws on the eighteenth-century British campaign against slavery as a model. Bregman co-founded the School for Moral Ambition alongside it, and says his earnings from the book go to that foundation.
In What Order to Read Rutger Bregman
Each book stands alone, so there is no series order. Publication order does show a line, though: from history (The History of Progress) to policy (Utopia for Realists) to human nature (Humankind) and finally to what one person should do with a career (Moral Ambition).
English readers have three books: Utopia for Realists, Humankind and Moral Ambition. Humankind is the easiest way in, and Moral Ambition reads best after it, because it turns the argument that people are decent into a question about what they should do. The other four books are only available in Dutch.
A reading path
1. Humankind (2019; English 2020)
2. Utopia for Realists (2014; English 2017)
3. Moral Ambition (2024; English 2025)
The years · 1988–2025
Quick facts about Rutger Bregman
- Known for
- Rutger Bregman is known for arguing, in plain language and with historical examples, that most people are decent and that ideas such as a universal basic income are realistic.
- 1988
- Born in Renesse, Zeeland
- 2014
- Utopia for Realists appears in Dutch
- 2019
- Humankind
- 2025
- Gives the BBC Reith Lectures
- Born
- 26 April 1988, Renesse, Zeeland; his father is a Protestant minister
- Education
- History at Utrecht University (BA 2009, MA 2012), partly at UCLA
- Journalism
- De Volkskrant, then about ten years at De Correspondent
- Prize
- Liberales book prize (2013) for De geschiedenis van de vooruitgang
- Founded
- The School for Moral Ambition, with four co-founders, in 2024
- Readers
- About 2.5 million copies sold; translated into 46 languages
The red mark is 2019: De meeste mensen deugen, published in English as Humankind in 2020.
How Rutger Bregman Writes: History as an Argument
Bregman trained as a historian and writes as a journalist. His books often start as articles: Utopia for Realists grew out of a series for De Correspondent, and the chapters still read like long pieces, each built around one idea and one set of examples, from basic-income experiments to the history of the working week.
His method in Humankind is to take a story readers think they know and go back to the sources. He looks again at the Stanford Prison Experiment, at the claim that 37 people watched Kitty Genovese being attacked and did nothing, and at the real shipwreck of six Tongan boys in the 1960s, and argues that the usual version is wrong or incomplete. That method is also where critics push back, saying he chooses the evidence that fits his case.
He writes in Dutch, with English translations following a year or more later, and keeps his language plain and direct. Moral Ambition adds a call to action: it uses the British anti-slavery movement as an example of a small group of determined people changing the world, and ends with the work of the foundation he set up.
Watch
Poverty isn’t a lack of character; it’s a lack of cash
At TED2017 in Vancouver, Bregman makes the case for a universal basic income, drawing on the experiments behind Utopia for Realists.
Frequently asked questions about Rutger Bregman’s books
How many books has Rutger Bregman written?
Seven, all written in Dutch: six on his own and one, Waarom vuilnismannen meer verdienen dan bankiers (2015), with Jesse Frederik. Three are available in English: Utopia for Realists, Humankind and Moral Ambition.
What are Rutger Bregman’s books in order?
Met de kennis van toen (2012), De geschiedenis van de vooruitgang (2013), Utopia for Realists (Dutch 2014, English 2017), Waarom vuilnismannen meer verdienen dan bankiers (2015), Humankind (Dutch 2019, English 2020), Het water komt (2020) and Moral Ambition (Dutch 2024, English 2025).
Where should I start with Rutger Bregman?
Humankind: A Hopeful History. It is his best-known book and explains the view of human nature behind everything else he writes. If you are more interested in policy, start with Utopia for Realists.
What is Rutger Bregman’s most famous book?
Humankind, published in Dutch in 2019 as De meeste mensen deugen. It has been translated into 46 languages, and the paperback was a New York Times bestseller.
Is Humankind the same book as De meeste mensen deugen?
Yes. De meeste mensen deugen (2019) is the Dutch original; the English translation by Elizabeth Manton and Erica Moore was published in 2020 as Humankind: A Hopeful History. In the same way, Utopia for Realists is the English edition of Gratis geld voor iedereen (2014) and Moral Ambition of Morele ambitie (2024).
What is Utopia for Realists about?
It argues for three ideas: a universal basic income paid to everyone, a working week of fifteen hours and open borders. It began as a series of articles for De Correspondent and was published in Dutch in 2014 and in English in 2017.
Why has Humankind been criticised?
Several reviewers and commentators, in Dutch and English publications, have argued that the book is thin on science and chooses examples that suit its argument, for instance in its readings of famous psychology experiments. Bregman’s case is that the pessimistic versions of these stories were themselves based on weak or misreported evidence.
What happened between Rutger Bregman and Tucker Carlson?
After his Davos panel in January 2019, Bregman was interviewed remotely by Tucker Carlson for Fox News. He accused Carlson of being paid by the Cato Institute; Carlson swore at him and the interview was not broadcast. Bregman’s own recording was released by NowThis News on 20 February 2019 and passed four million views on YouTube.
What is the School for Moral Ambition?
A Dutch non-profit Bregman co-founded in 2024 with four others, inspired by Moral Ambition. It helps people move into work on large problems. Bregman says his earnings from the book go to it, and he has stepped down from its board.
Is Rutger Bregman still alive?
Yes. He was born on 26 April 1988 in Renesse, in the Dutch province of Zeeland, and gave the BBC Reith Lectures in 2025. A line in which he called Donald Trump the “most openly corrupt president in American history” was cut by BBC lawyers before broadcast, which he criticised publicly.
Footnotes
- Rutger Bregman — Wikipedia
- Utopia for Realists — Wikipedia
- Bio — rutgerbregman.com
- Humankind: A Hopeful History — Publishers Weekly, 2020
- Rutger Bregman chosen as alumnus of the year — DUB, Utrecht University
- Poverty isn’t a lack of character; it’s a lack of cash — TED
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“Poverty isn’t a lack of character; it’s a lack of cash.”
— Rutger Bregman, title of his talk at TED2017, Vancouver
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