A New Scientist "best book of the year"

A Daily Beast "favourite book of 2012"

"A riveting read... excellent."

-- Elaine Storkey, BBC Radio 3

"An epic inquiry into the human desire to defy death – and how to overcome it.

Cave traces the histories of each of his four immortality narratives through the world’s great religions, heroes, leaders, thinkers and stories. It’s an epic tale of human folly, featuring a cast of characters including Gilgamesh, Dante, Frankenstein, the King of Qin, Alexander the Great and the Dalai Lama.

Cave, a Berlin-based writer and former diplomat, is an admirably clear elucidator, stripping down arguments to their essences and recounting them without any unnecessary jargon… [he] follows the right path to the right conclusion, rightly stated."

-- The Financial Times

"Stephen Cave's Immortality is a must-read exploration of what spurs human ingenuity.

Every once in a while a book comes along that catches me by surprise and provides me with an entirely new lens through which to view the world. My surprise is even greater when that "aha" moment comes within my own field of expertise. Such is the case with Stephen Cave's book Immortality.

Many will resist Cave's premise, but I think he is right on point. He presents an extremely compelling case - one that has changed my view of the driving force of civilisation as much as Jared Diamond did years ago with his brilliant book Guns, Germs and Steel. I won't tell you Cave's vision of where he thinks it will all end up - I'll leave that mystery for you to discover for yourself. This is a must read."

-- The New Scientist

“In his survey of the subject, Stephen Cave, a British philosopher, argues that man’s various tales of immortality can be boiled down into four basic “narratives”… For the aspiring undying, Mr Cave unfortunately concludes that immortality is a mirage. But his demolition project is fascinating in its own right. … If anything, readers might want more of Mr Cave’s crisp conversational prose.”

-- The Economist

Watch the trailer:

"In his ambitious and engrossing new book, Immortality, Stephen Cave invites us to reflect on the implications of perpetual existence, arguing that whether we know it or not, every decision we make is driven by our desire to outlast death. Part historical narrative, part philosophical treatise, Immortality examines the spectrum of human accomplishment through the unique lens of our collective obsession with living forever.

Cave’s fascinating study identifies four imperatives—what he calls the “immortality narratives”—which account for nearly every feature of civilization, from advances in modern medicine to the development of sophisticated religious systems, politics and the arts. … Cave makes the case for understanding civilization via these immortality narratives by supporting them with rich historical anecdotes. 

…The way he seamlessly blends theory, research and narrative into a coherent and accessible whole testifies to the breadth of his talents as a writer... The greatest strength of Immortality, then, is its capacity to appeal to readers of all stripes."

-- BookPage

"Cave explains how the seeking of immortality is the foundation of human achievement, the wellspring of art, religion and civilization... The author is rangy and recondite, searching the byways of elixirs, the surprises of alchemy, the faith in engineering and all the wonder to be found in discussions of life and death... Luminous and mindful."

-- Kirkus Reviews

"[Cave’s] sort of nonfiction writing is exciting. It gets the juices flowing and draws one into the material.

What Cave does so well throughout Immortality is to take the reader by the hand and carefully guide her or him through each concept, ensuring understanding before exploring assorted variations and difficulties. He’s writing for searchers, not people collecting knock ’em-dead refutations of positions they’ve already rejected. And his appeal is to intellectual curiosity."

-- The Humanist

"presenting his arguments in a brisk, engaging style, and drawing effectively upon a wide-ranging stock of religious, philosophical, and scientific sources, both ancient and contemporary... Cave fashions a plausible and compelling view of a life that does not recoil in horror at the thought of mortality..."

-- The Weekly Standard

"Immortality is a fascinating history of man’s greatest obsession and poses a stunning theory of society."

-- The Daily Beast