Kindred
Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art
Critically acclaimed bestseller
The New York Times
"A complete new story about Neanderthals... synthesizing thousands of academic studies into a single accessible narrative"
"Important reading for anyone interested in humanity"
One of 2020s Best Books: The Sunday Times, New Scientist, BBC Science Focus
Book of The Week The Times
“If you read only one book about the Neanderthals, read this one”
“A superbly authoritative guided tour”
Book of the Day, The Guardian
"A combination of the scholarly and the writerly"
The London Review of Books
"Kindred is a thrillingly full account of what we currently
know about the Neanderthals."
see below for full reviews
Represented by: Patrick Walsh, PEW Literary
Kindred publicity:
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Reviews
Book of the Day in The Guardian
"A combination of the scholarly and the writerly, combining dizzying amounts of information"
"An expert and enthusiastic character witness for Neanderthals and their way of life"
John Lanchester in The London Review of Books
"Kindred is a thrillingly full account... Wragg Sykes' project is to write about Neanderthals as an end in themselves, not as a failed version of humanity"
Yuval Harari in The New York Times
"A complete new story about Neanderthals... synthesizing thousands of academic studies into a single accessible narrative"
"Important reading for anyone interested in humanity"
Rave reviews &
Best Reviewed Science, Nature and Technology book of October 2020
“Rebecca Wragg-Sykes's fact-packed but highly readable book puts us right with a superbly authoritative guided tour of much new evidence... If you read only one book about the Neanderthals, read this one"
"Intriguing...A bold & magnificent attempt to resurrect our Neanderthal kin"
"Like a conjurer channeling a reluctant genie [Wragg Sykes] generates a window into a strand of alternative human possibility"
"An exciting aspect of this book is the way it refreshes our ideas about our own place in hominin evolution."
"A fascinating picture of a field transformed almost beyond recognition over the past 30 years."
"Fresh... Compelling"
"Wragg Sykes uses the breadcrumbs of archeological discoveries to persuasively hypothesize... about the life and times of Neanderthals"
“Deeply researched twenty-first century portrait of the Neanderthals”
“Vivid, immersive… Smashes stereotypes"
"“A quarter of the way through, I was longing to meet a Neanderthal.”
"Wragg Sykes has performed something extraordinary in distilling [new data] into a commanding & wonderfully readable account"
"Evocations emerge from extensive science... Surprisingly moving"
"Impressive scope... Beautifully detailed" "Evaluates the available evidence on Neanderthals with empathy and even-handedness"
"A nuanced portrait...Brings something new to this discussion"
"Kindred is beautifully written, it's convincing, and it's full of surprises."
"It employs the very latest science... Most importantly, it presents a fascinating story not just of Neanderthals but of ourselves"
"Masterful"
"Mind-expanding popular science" "Splendidly engaging prose... Startlingly fresh"
"More than any other book in paleoanthropology I've read, Wragg Sykes convincingly blows up simplistic views".
Current Archaeology
"A fascinating family reunion"
"Wide-ranging... full of scientific detail but with a lightness of touch"
"Wragg Sykes writes with an evocative turn of phrase, deftly conjuring scenes"
British Archaeology
"Effortlessly marshalling a huge amount of evidence... [in] writing Kindred, Rebecca Wragg Sykes could be said to have found the Neanderthals."
"An outstanding first book. Archaeology has found a new story teller."
"[Wragg Sykes] knows the field, in all its burgeoning complexity"
"...sums up the case for Neanderthals' relative sophistication on the basis of considerable evidence from archaeology and related disciplines"
"Breathtaking in scope and beautifully written, Kindred establishes itself as the go-to popular work for a nuanced and current picture of Neanderthals." "Fascinating, accessible, and terribly exciting"