Mapping Human History

Unravelling the Mystery of Adam and Eve

Steve Olson author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Published:7th Jul '03

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Mapping Human History cover

Shortlisted for the National Book Award

An account of human formation and history based on discoveries through our genetic make-up.150,000 years of human existence have passed, and yet what do we really know about our history before the advent of writing? Some of the most momentous events - including our origins, our migrations across the globe, and our acquisition of language - were lost in the darkness of 'prehistory'. But at last geneticists and other scientists are piecing together a history - the true story of Adam and Eve. Mapping Human History is nothing less than a 'history of prehistory'. Steve Olson travelled through four continents to discover the development of humans and our expansion throughout the planet. He describes, for example, new thinking about how centres of agriculture sprang up among disparate foraging societies at roughly the same time. He tells why most of us can claim Julius Caesar and Confucius among our forebears. He pinpoints why the ways in which the story of the Jewish people jibes with, and diverges from, biblical accounts. And using very recent genetic findings, he explodes the myth that human races are a biological reality.

'Olson's is a steady hand to guide us through...treacherous waters' Sunday Telegraph

ISBN: 9780747561743

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 249g

304 pages

New edition