The complex and fascinating story of the Neanderthals – shoving aside the cliché of the brutish figure in an icy wasteland, this book showcases the culture, ecology and biology of these people, areas of research that have seen astonishing recent advances.

** WINNER OF THE PEN HESSELL-TILTMAN PRIZE 2021 **

'Beautiful, evocative, authoritative.' Professor Brian Cox

'Important reading not just for anyone interested in these ancient cousins of ours, but also for anyone interested in humanity.’ Yuval Noah Harari

Kindred is the definitive guide to the Neanderthals. Since their discovery more than 160 years ago, Neanderthals have metamorphosed from the losers of the human family tree to A-list hominins.

Rebecca Wragg Sykes uses her experience at the cutting edge of Palaeolithic research to share our new understanding of Neanderthals, shoving aside clichés of rag-clad brutes in an icy wasteland. She reveals them to be curious, clever connoisseurs of their world, technologically inventive and ecologically adaptable. Above all, they were successful survivors for more than 300,000 years, during times of massive climatic upheaval.

Much of what defines us was also in Neanderthals, and their DNA is still inside us. Planning, co-operation, altruism, craftsmanship, aesthetic sense, imagination, perhaps even a desire for transcendence beyond mortality. Kindred does for Neanderthals what Sapiens did for us, revealing a deeper, more nuanced story where humanity itself is our ancient, shared inheritance.

"Important reading not just for anyone interested in these ancient cousins of ours, but also for anyone interested in humanity. - Yuval Noah Harari, author of Sapiens" - The New York Times

"Rebecca Wragg-Sykes's fact-packed but highly readable book puts us right with a superbly authoritative guided tour of much new evidence. It's tempting to say, "If you read only one book about the Neanderthals, read this one" -- except that if the next 20 years provide as many revelations about our ancestors as the past 20 have done, she will need to produce just as weighty a second volume." - The Times

"‘Kindred is a thrillingly full account of what we currently know about the Neanderthals… Wragg Sykes' project is to write about Neanderthals as an end in themselves, not as a failed version of humanity.’" - London Review of Books

"Rebecca Wragg Sykes’s book paints a vivid portrait of our adaptable ancient relatives ... immersive." - Nature

"‘The knowledge condensed here is certainly impressive … Rebecca Wragg Sykes has studied their landscapes, territories and tools and emerges as an expert and enthusiastic character witness for Neanderthals and their way of life. Neanderthals probably didn’t have PR, but they do now.’" - Guardian

"Wragg Sykes paints a fascinating picture of a field transformed almost beyond recognition over the past 30 years." - New Scientist