He manages to draw the reader in and share his great
excitement on his journey of discovering the secrets of DNA. He discusses his DNA analyses on the
"iceman" discovered in the Alps, the Cheddar man discovered in a cave in southern England, and even
on the bones of the Tsar of Russia, and how all of these led him to realize how DNA analysis could
be applied to the greater question of how we are all related. He also naturally adds chapters on
what exactly DNA is and how it works, but these are never dry or boring.

The seven chapters in
which Sykes fictionalizes the daily life of the seven women he has traced to be the common maternal
ancestors of most Europeans are the weakest part of the book. However, while I share reviewer D. C.
Smith below's doubts about the monogamous nature of prehistoric male-female relationships and while
those lines he cited in his review did have me cringing a bit, overall I would have to say that even
these chapters served their purpose quite well, as after reading them I have a much clearer idea of
the KIND of existence that these women would have lived. The only drawback I can see is if people
take these chapters literally, and after having their own DNA analyzed begin seeing themselves as
the descendant of the actual individual depicted in these chapters. These seven chapters are only
intended to give us an IDEA of how they lived.

In conclusion, I'd have to say that I really did
enjoy this book very, very much and have no problem with giving it a rip-roaring rave review! I hope
that soon we will see further works providing more detail on the other maternal clans outside of
Europe tantalizingly introduced in this book's final chapter.

In the mean time, I can't wait to
have my own DNA analyzed by Prof. Sykes' labs at Oxford at the service listed at the back of the
book, and find out just where my own ancestry fits into the big picture. I know it sounds extremely
corny to say this, but I really do feel this book has to a tiny extent changed my life!

A very easy to read
book, despite the large amount of scientific material. The author's evidence of our common ancestry
is very compelling, and entertainingly presented.

Do not be misled -- this book is about science, the impact of
DNA, to be precise. For a lay person (and this reviewer is most certainly one), the scientific
discussion may fly over one's head. But this book is definitely worth the read. In the short
period humans have begun to understand DNA, DNA has solved some of our great mysteries. And will
solve many more no doubt. This book is an exposition not just of these mysteries that have been
solved, but also of the technology and methods that provided the solutions.

Advice to the lay
reader: think of the mutations in human DNA as the lines in a tree trunk. As the tree trunk lines
reveal the age of the tree, the mutations show how long ago two living beings shared a common
ancestor. With that in mind, sit back and enjoy this episode of "Solved Mysteries."