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A Short History of Humanity

Written by: Johannes Krause, Thomas Trappe, Caroline Waight - translator
Narrated by: Stephen Graybill
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Publisher's Summary

“Thrilling...a bracing summary of what we have learned [from] ‘archaeogenetics’ - the study of ancient DNA...Krause and Trappe capture the excitement of this young field.” (Kyle Harper, The Wall Street Journal)

Johannes Krause is the director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and a brilliant pioneer in the field of archaeogenetics - archaeology augmented by DNA sequencing technology - which has allowed scientists to reconstruct human history reaching back hundreds of thousands of years before recorded time. 

In this surprising account, Krause and journalist Thomas Trappe rewrite a fascinating chapter of this history, the peopling of Europe, that takes us from the Neanderthals and Denisovans to the present. We know now that a wave of farmers from Anatolia migrated into Europe 8,000 years ago, essentially displacing the dark-skinned, blue-eyed hunter-gatherers who preceded them. This Anatolian farmer DNA is one of the core genetic components of people with contemporary European ancestry. Archaeogenetics has also revealed that indigenous North and South Americans, though long thought to have been East Asian, also share DNA with contemporary Europeans. 

Krause and Trappe vividly introduce us to the prehistoric cultures of the ancient Europeans: the Aurignacians, innovative artisans who carved flutes and animal and human forms from bird bones more than 40,000 years ago; the Varna, who buried their loved ones with gold long before the Pharaohs of Egypt; and the Gravettians, big-game hunters who were Europe’s most successful early settlers until they perished in the ice age. 

Genetics has earned a reputation for smuggling racist ideologies into science, but cutting-edge science makes nonsense of eugenics and “pure” bloodlines. Immigration and genetic exchanges have always defined our species; who we are is a question of culture, not biological inheritance. This revelatory book offers us an entirely new way to understand ourselves, both past and present.

©2021 Johannes Krause and Thomas Trappe (P)2021 Random House Audio

What the critics say

"A highly readable, personal guide to the twists and turns in unravelling ancient DNA: Krause and Trappe expertly recount the story of archaeogenetics to reveal how this new field has utterly transformed understanding of our deep past.” (Rebecca Wragg Sykes, author of Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art

“One of those books that stops you dead in your tracks and makes you say out loud: Why didn’t I know that before? So easy to read. So logically argued. So satisfyingly sensible and thought-provoking. Read it, think about it, and then read it again. An absolute revelation.” (Sue Black, author of All That Remains

“A captivating and informative look at the origins and future of humanity.... Krause and Trappe make complicated scientific processes accessible to lay readers, and offer hope that the ongoing study of ancient genetics and the development of new technologies such as genome editing will help to fight pathogens.” (Publishers Weekly

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archeogenetics changes everything

very concise precise and informative story that leaves me wanting to learn more about archeo genetics, human history, and the direction that we're going as far as evolution and genetic manipulation.

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