{"product_id":"proto-how-one-ancient-language-went-global","title":"Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global","description":"\n\u003ctable align=\"center\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"productDetailSmallElements\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBiographical Note\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eLaura Spinney\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of \n\u003ci\u003ePale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World\u003c\/i\u003e, which has been translated into more than a dozen languages, and two novels. Her science writing has appeared in \n\u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic\u003c\/i\u003e, \n\u003ci\u003eNational Geographic\u003c\/i\u003e, \n\u003ci\u003eNature\u003c\/i\u003e, \n\u003ci\u003eThe Economist\u003c\/i\u003e, \n\u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e, and elsewhere. She lives in Paris.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"A compelling portrait of a people thought lost to time...a remarkable account of humanity's quest to rediscover its ancient origins, using modern methods to illuminate the world as it was before the advent of written history. For Ms. Spinney, this distant and obscure past holds lessons for the future, as the preservation and purity of language is increasingly a contemporary concern.\" --Michael Patrick Brady, \u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Fluid... a global scientific odyssey.\" --Anjana Ahuja, \n\u003ci\u003eThe Guardian \"Best Science and Nature Books of 2025\"\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Beguiling and revelatory...Spinney is a stylish and erudite writer; it's the rare science book that quotes Keats, Seamus Heaney, and Ismail Kadare. She also has a keen sense of the romance of her subject.\" --Laura Miller, \n\u003ci\u003eSlate\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"An impressive piece of work . . . Rewarding.\" --Dennis Duncan, \n\u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Laura Spinney tells engaging tales of archeologists traipsing through fields, linguists working toward professional vindication and many others active in the search for understanding of how these ancient languages traveled, fragmented, warred and traded to eventually became the dominant Indo-European languages today.\" -- \n\u003ci\u003eRich Hunt, Scientific American\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\" \n\u003ci\u003eProto\u003c\/i\u003e is a rich and well-researched study of language development across thousands of miles and tens of thousands of years. But most importantly, it shows that we are more connected than we might have been led to believe.\" --Zuzanna Lachendro, \n\u003ci\u003eThe New Statesman\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"[PROTO traces] the origins of that great carrier of ideas, our shared language. Although it might read like a historical narrative, it's really a brilliant-and well researched-argument: about the ways in which the spoken word has spread; about what we can and can't know about the very distant past; about genetics, linguistics and science.\" -- \n\u003ci\u003eProspect Magazine \"Best Books of 2025\"\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Ancient Greek and Latin can't hold a candle to Proto-Indo-European as far as scope of influence is concerned. The latest from journalist Spinney aims to show just how great the impact of this little-remembered language still is.\" --John H. Maher, \n\u003ci\u003eThe Millions\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"The great leap in genetic analysis of late has meant that the story of how one language left the steppes of Ukraine and became the earth's dominant language family has become clearer and more exciting than ever before. Hooray for a book where the author's curiosity, diligence, and literary craft gets it all down in what will stand as the go-to source for a generation.\" -- \n\u003ci\u003eJohn McWhorter, author of THE LANGUAGE HOAX\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"In this thought-provoking book Laura Spinney shows how recent advances in genetics and archaeological discoveries have thrown new light on the history of the Indo-European languages that a great part of the world now speaks ... A lively and fascinating account of how these languages split from their root, developed in different ways, mingled with each other, crossed tracks, flourished and died. I loved it!\" -- \n\u003ci\u003eDavid Bellos, author of IS THAT A FISH IN YOUR EAR?\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\" \n\u003ci\u003eProto\u003c\/i\u003e is a real detective story told with a compelling combination of academic rigour, human interest, vivid description, and personal biography. A tour de force.\" -- \n\u003ci\u003eDavid Crystal, author of A DATE WITH LANGUAGE\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Formidably researched but lightly written, I put down this book with the pleasurable sense that the world around me had become a little stranger and richer.\" --Helen Gordon, \n\u003ci\u003eauthor of NOTES FROM DEEP TIME\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Superb. With style and panache, Laura Spinney tells a truly extraordinary detective story.\" --Matt Ridley, \n\u003ci\u003eauthor of THE EVOLUTION OF EVERYTHING\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"This beautifully researched and written book is about far more than language; it is a history of the world in microcosm, drawing together a diversity of subjects from genetics and religion to warfare and boozing. I highly recommend this wholly absorbing book.\" --Douglas Preston, \n\u003ci\u003eauthor of #1 New York Times bestselling THE LOST CITY OF THE MONKEY GOD\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Spinney charts an extraordinary journey through human history with words as a compass. It is a sweeping story beautifully told. Profound and illuminating.\" --Moudhy Al-Rashid, \n\u003ci\u003eauthor of BETWEEN TWO RIVERS\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Journalist and novelist Spinney ( \n\u003ci\u003ePale Rider\u003c\/i\u003e) explains how a single language family spread across the world in this astute account. Combining the discoveries of linguists, archaeologists, and geneticists-\"barbarians to each other\" in their mutual unintelligibility-Spinney aims to take the most holistic approach yet to the topic...Impressively weaving raw data and disparate academic conjectures into a sweeping saga, this rivets.\" -- \n\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly (starred review)\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBrief Description\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Daughter. Duhitâar-. Dustr. Dukte. Listen to these English, Sanskrit, Armenian and Lithuanian words, all meaning the same thing, and you hear echoes of one of history's most unlikely journeys. All four languages-along with hundreds of others, from French and Gaelic, to Persian and Polish-trace their origins to an ancient tongue spoken as the last ice age receded. This language, which we call Proto-Indo-European, was born between Europe and Asia and exploded out of its cradle, fragmenting as it spread east and west. Its last speaker died thousands of years ago, yet Proto-Indo-European lives on in its myriad linguistic offspring and in some of our best loved works of literature, including Dante's Inferno and the Rig Veda, The Lord of the Rings and the love poetry of Rumi. How did this happen? Acclaimed journalist Laura Spinney set out to answer that question, retracing the Indo-European odyssey across continents and millennia. With her we travel the length of the steppe, navigating the Caucasus, the silk roads and the Hindu Kush. We retrace the epic journeys of nomads and monks, warriors and kings - the ancient peoples who carried these languages far and wide. In the present, Spinney meets the scientists on a thrilling mission to retrieve the lost languages and their speakers: the linguists, archaeologists and geneticists who have reconstructed that ancient diaspora. What they have learned has profound implications for our modern world, because people and their languages are on the move again. Proto is a revelatory portrait of world history in its own words.\"-- Publisher.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher Marketing\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNamed a Best Book of 2025 by the \u003ci\u003eGuardian \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eScientific American\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The story of how one language left the steppes of Ukraine and became the earth's dominant language family has become clearer and more exciting than ever before. Hooray for a book where the author's curiosity, diligence, and literary craft gets it all down in what will stand as the go-to source for a generation.\" - John McWhorter, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Language Hoax\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDaughter. Duhitár-. Dustr. Dukte. Listen to these English, Sanskrit, Armenian and Lithuanian words, all meaning the same thing, and you hear echoes of one of history's most unlikely journeys. All four languages-along with hundreds of others, from French and Gaelic, to Persian and Polish-trace their origins to an ancient tongue spoken as the last ice age receded. This language, which we call Proto-Indo-European, was born between Europe and Asia and exploded out of its cradle, fragmenting as it spread east and west. Its last speaker died thousands of years ago, yet Proto-Indo-European lives on in its myriad linguistic offspring and in some of our best loved works of literature, including Dante's \n\u003ci\u003eInferno\u003c\/i\u003e and the \n\u003ci\u003eRig Veda\u003c\/i\u003e, \n\u003ci\u003eThe Lord of the Rings\u003c\/i\u003e and the love poetry of Rumi. How did this happen? \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAcclaimed journalist Laura Spinney set out to answer that question, retracing the Indo-European odyssey across continents and millennia. With her we travel the length of the steppe, navigating the Caucasus, the silk roads and the Hindu Kush. We retrace the epic journeys of nomads and monks, warriors and kings - the ancient peoples who carried these languages far and wide. In the present, Spinney meets the scientists on a thrilling mission to retrieve the lost languages and their speakers: the linguists, archaeologists and geneticists who have reconstructed that ancient diaspora. What they have learned has profound implications for our modern world, because people and their languages are on the move again. \n\u003ci\u003eProto\u003c\/i\u003e is a revelatory portrait of world history in its own words. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/span\u003e 03\/01\/2025 (EAN 9781639732586, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/span\u003e 04\/21\/2025 (EAN 9781639732586, Hardcover) - *Starred Review\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51496030699798,"sku":"9781639732586","price":35.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/9910\/8886\/files\/9781639732586.jpg?v=1783051107","url":"https:\/\/lusper.myshopify.com\/products\/proto-how-one-ancient-language-went-global","provider":"Lusperbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}