I was really hopeful about this book--with its authors' credentials, it seemed possible this would be an up-to-date introduction to archeogenetics, through the lens of a journalist. There are elements of that, certainly, but the book is limited to a rather small geographic area (not all of humanity) and sometimes gets a little lost in its digressions. Furthermore, the book has been translated from German and often is often distracting in how it follows German speech patterns. Also, use of contractions is inconsistent--I'm not against a less formal tone in a scientific book, but it keeps changing. But still, I learned a lot about the Denisovans especially, so it was time well spent in reading.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

A Short History of Humanity is, as one might expect from the title, a surprisingly concise volume covering a lot of ground. It is also, thanks to the combined efforts of its co-authors — Johannesburg Krause, director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology; and Thomas Trappe, a science journalist — an authoritative, informative, accessible, and engaging work of non-fiction.

The focus of the book is archaeogenetics, a recent field that uses newly created technology and new discoveries to “decode ancient genomes, some of which are hundreds of thousands of years old … uncovering not only the genetic profiles of the dead, but also how their genes spread across Europe … [and] sift [ing] out DNA from bacteria that cause deadly disease.”

Migration and disease are certainly timely topics, even if the authors here are looking long into the past. Lessons, though, can be learned, misconceptions can be cleared up. And if, as the authors note, “people open to migration will find arguments in this book to support their beliefs, as will those in favor of stricter border control … ideally you will be persuaded that a global approach to society . . . Will also be the key to progress in the future.”

The book opens with a brief introduction into the birth and workings of archaeogenetics, and a broad overview of the human evolutionary bush, including our own species, Neanderthals, and Denisovans, noting that all three population interbred and shared genes that can still be found in our bodies today.

After the introduction, the first half of the book deals with several mass migrations of humans (and some minor ones) and the impact of those migrations on the pre-existent populations and/or cultures (one point made is that migration often but no always brings a change of culture). The first is the human migration out of Africa in several ways, with one 40, 000 years ago leading to massive spread across Europe and Asia.

Along with digressions into bipedalism and other evolutionary attributes of early humanity, as well as some discussion of how climate affected migration and long-term viability (or not), Krause and Trappe also greatly detail the artistic cultures of several of the early waves, such as the Aurignacians and the subsequent Gravettians, discussions nicely enhanced with a number of photographs, such as of cave paintings in southern France or figurines carved from mammoth ivory.

The book continues exploring successive waves of migration, from the steppes, from Anatolia, and for each explains the changes wrought in art, in ways of living, in violence and weaponry, iand in basic modes of lifestyle (hunter-gatherers eventually replaced by farmers, nomadic life replaced by settled communities). They also step aside to discuss the skin tones of people in various regions, making clear how silly the use of skin color as the basis of “racial difference” is. Another topic explored in some depth is the evolution of language from its earliest speculative form into those in use around the world today. It’s all fascinating material, and while it’s true it may be difficult to recall exactly which group is in which time period and in which region, the general sweep of events is always clear.

About halfway through, the book turns away somewhat from human migration to the topic of disease (though the two are of course closely related). The plague is one diseased explored, with some interesting revelations (such as how long it has been with us). The authors also discuss leprosy and syphilis, as well as the destruction wreaked on the New World with the arrival of Europeans and their diseases which natives had no immunity to. Here, though no less detailed, the more familiar history and names of places/people/events will probably make this section easier going for most in terms of retaining specifics.

In the end, readers will have a far clearer view, thanks to the book’s clear prose and organization and the wealth of images, maps, diagrams, etc. of how humans and their civilizations evolved, and how migration and disease have played major roles in that development.

A reconstruction of European history as it relates to archaeogenetics.

The author is recording the work and heritage of his mentor and the new field of archaeogenetics. He begins with his work in decoding the DNA of the first discovered Denisovan bone. From there the story is primarily focused on what we deem pre-history, exploring what genetics ancient and modern can tell us about how Europe was populated over time.

The story is a new one with some unexpected twists. Europe is inhabited and "de-inhabited" during more expansive ice age times. He speaks of the intermingling of modern humans with Neanderthals and Denisovans. Much is made of the Mal'ta man whose genetics are associated with certain Europeans and Native Americans. The first farmers came from Anatolia and lived near, but did not intermingle much with, more "native" hunter-gatherers. A few still have that heritage, but most ended up getting wiped out, possibly by plague, and definitely by the incoming Yamnaya culture.

By the time one gets to the Bronze Age the authors turn to focus on pandemic disease and how it can be traced in the archaeogenetic record. The book concludes with what seems to be its purpose: to use archaeogenetics to demonstrate how mankind has been peripatetic and has moved around a lot while also spreading disease and supplanting previous populations in the process. Thus, everyone in the immigration arguments of the age have something they can grab a hold of in order to justify their viewpoint.

A good way to get some decent information about where archaeogenetics is at in terms of the European populations.

I enjoyed this book. It struck a great balance between giving me enough detail to help me understand and not too much that I got lost in the minutiae. A similar book where I did get lost in the minutiae is “Kindred” by Rebecca Wragg Sykes. The book by Krause and Trappe was much more fun to read. It includes Krause’s personal journey and is written with a sense of humor and a certain lightness. Although written about Europe, I feel that the general principles are applicable elsewhere. I recommend it for anyone interested in the history of humanity.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary advance reader copy of this book via Netgalley for review purposes.